Mike Westbrook - In Memory of Lou Gare

British jazz icon Mike Westbrook pays tribute to saxophonist Lou Gare, the former member of radical free jazz group AMM and a master of improvised music. Assembled from live recordings in the West Country it presents Gare on tenor saxophone with The Uncommon Orchestra directed by Mike Westbrook.

As a founder member of the seminal free-music group AMM he gained international recognition. Prizing creative freedom above all, and shunning the limelight, Lou remained a somewhat obscure figure on the jazz scene, while achieving legendary status in more progressive music circles.

A decade ago Lou joined his former '60s colleague Mike Westbrook in his Devon-based big band, The Uncommon Orchestra. Re-connecting with his jazz roots, Lou created improvisations of astonishing beauty and originality. This lovingly crafted album is a tribute to an inspirational musician.

Westbrook has done us an enormous favour by assembling and releasing a CD containing nine examples of his mature playing...these performances show that he could infuse what you might call a fundamentally mainstream-modern approach with freshness and substance. - Richard Williams, The Blue Moment