Richard Williams ricorda Mike Westbrook in uno splendido articolo pubblicato ieri dal Guardian, ripercorrendo le fasi salienti della lunga carriera incluse le attività dell'ultimo periodo, quelle con la Band of Bands, i recital in solo e l'ultimissima esecuzione del Westbrook Blake a Londra poco prima di Natale: "In his final years he occasionally gave intimate solo piano recitals in which, for an unbroken hour, sometimes two, he would range through gospel tunes, folk songs, pop ballads and jazz standards, revealing his inclusive and humanistic view of music. With his final lineup, the seven-piece Band of Bands, Westbrook took part in a private concert for friends in Dawlish on a sunlit May afternoon in 2024. He played only a little, sitting back to listen as Kate, Biscoe and his fellow saxophonist Pete Whyman and the virtuoso accordionist Karen Street were featured in a rendering of music old and new, as ever suffused with the spirits of his great predecessors - Ellington, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk - but always clearly the work of a man who brought to his chosen idiom an open-hearted vision based on the principles of social justice, a fondness for barrier-testing adventure and a commitment to the essentially collaborative nature of jazz. A final performance of the Westbrook Blake took place at Blackheath Halls a few days before Christmas 2025."