The Mike Westbrook Concert Band – Marching Song Vol. 2

Label: Audio Clarity – ACL0045

FORMAT: VINYL LP

BARCODE: 889397107451

It's hardly surprising that Mike Westbrook reigned supreme in the latter quarter of the 1960s and early 70s. His big band was voted top of that category in the late-lamented Melody Maker British jazz polls for 1970 (and the two years either side of that). In the same year, his third album, Marching Song, recorded a year earlier came third in the category "LP Of The Year" (the number one album that year was John McLaughlin's seminal Extrapolation so there was exceptionally strong competition). This album, recorded and released in 1969 on Decca's Deram label, was a double LP (also sold as two separate records), and therefore quite unusual for the time, especially for jazz. It comprised a suite of compositions by Westbrook, with three tracks on Volume 2 written by John Surman, and based on the concept of the vainglorious futility of war.

TRACKLIST

C1 Transition

C2 Home

C3 Rosie

C4 Prelude

C5 Tension

D1 Ballad

D2 Conflict

D3 Requiem

D4 Tarnished