| The Cortège | |
| Type: | Album |
| Artist: | Mike Westbrook Orchestra |
| Cover: | The Cortège (album).jpg |
| Released: | 1982 |
| Recorded: | March and April 1982 |
| Studio: | The Music Centre, Wembley, England |
| Genre: | Jazz |
| Length: | 136:45 |
| Label: | Original ORA 309 |
| Producer: | Fiachra Trench, Kate Westbrook, Mike Westbrook |
| Chronology: | Mike Westbrook |
| Prev Title: | The Paris Album |
| Prev Year: | 1981 |
| Next Title: | A Little Westbrook Music |
| Next Year: | 1983 |
The Cortège is an album by the Mike Westbrook Orchestra, performing a composition for jazz orchestra composed by Westbrook with texts from Federico García Lorca, Arthur Rimbaud, Hermann Hesse, William Blake, Giuseppe Gioachino Belli, John Clare, Pentti Saarikoski, and other European poetry, which was recorded in 1982 and first released as a triple LP on the Original label and reissued as a double CD on Enja in 1993 and 2011.[1]
The AllMusic review by Dave Lynch called the album "an often stunning work of massive scope and an indisputable highlight of Westbrook's career" and stated "The Cortège might be too sprawling for a first investigation of Westbrook, but it warrants consideration as the centerpiece of any Westbrook collection".
On All About Jazz, Chris May called it "one of finest achievements of British orchestral jazz".[2]
The Observers Dave Gelly noted: "It's only recently that the evolution of distinctly European forms of jazz has been acknowledged, but it began decades ago. One of the first milestones was this huge, unsettling work. .... The Cortège evolved over several years and, if there is a definitive version, this 1982 recording is it".[3]
All compositions by Mike Westbrook