Chris Topley pubblica un breve video nella sezione
Moving Picture Show del sito web che da sempre cura amorevolmente per
Mike e
Kate Westbrook,
WestbrookJazz. E' la prima delle due variazioni di
Empress Blues presenti nell'album
The Piano In The Room And The Blues (AlAy, 2026), ispirate al brano di Bessie Smith
Good Old Wagon. Il cd, nonostante alcuni intoppi dell'ultimo momento, ha visto la luce in tempo per il novantesimo compleanno di Mike, lo scorso 21 marzo, rendendolo sinceramente felice. Racconta l'episodio per esteso
Werner X. Uehlinger,
storico sostenitore di Mike in Hat Hut Records e curatore anche di quest'ultima pubblicazione, che da motivo di festeggiamento si è trasformata in involontario ma affettuosissimo commiato: "Mike Westbrook contacted me in April/May 2025, when I was still Hat Hut Records owner and recommended that I issue his piano blues solo recording. After listening to the music, I agreed. At the end of May, I sold the name of Hat Hut Records and its contents of ezz-thetics productions. The recordings then passed to the new owners of Hat Hut Records, who had no interest in releasing them. Since I had promised Mike Westbrook a CD release, I began working on the release despite a non-complete agreement. The contact with Mike was very intense in the following weeks to achieve his wish that the CD be released before his 90th birthday in March 2026. I succeeded. He received the CD after mid-February 2026. Mike was very happy and very grateful. Mike’s eMail on February 23, 2026: "The CDs have arrived! Now the music is able to speak for itself. Thanks for your support and commitment in making it happen." Unfortunately, his illness caught up with him and led to his recent death on April 11, 2026.
The Piano In The Room And The Blues has now become a memorial edition."
.jpg)
