In December 1963, this sextet were invited to PYE Studios to make a demonstration recording, testing the studio and its equipment, not the band. The results, which turned out to be over 90 minutes of capture-the-moment-or-you’ll-miss-it early British mainstream jazz, subsequently lay in a dusty attic for 55 years until now.
Festival '69 is an historic concert performance, previously unreleased, providing unique insight into Gibbs' artistry prior to his recording career proper (debut album released in 1970). Assembling a big band boasting the cream of contemporary British Jazz, Gibbs connected for this one concert with pioneering vibraphonist Gary Burton and his Quartet.
Continuing Turtle Records exploration of the British Jazz scene during its peak period.
Gordon Beck, English jazz pianist and composer, broke onto the London scene in the early 1960s joining the Tubby Hayes group in 1962 and then forming his own succession of groups from 1965 onwards. A subsequent 26 album career established him as one of the most important musicians in British Jazz before passing away in 2011.
Turtle Records is proud to present these excellent performances, now transferred and collated, which capture the group playing a variety of some well-known compositions plus a large number of Gordon Beck originals, which are surely a must for any serious modern jazz fan.
Following the successful release on RPM of the Turtle Records box set in 2016, chronicling producer Peter Eden’s early 1970’s modern jazz label, we’re pleased to announce a new series of modern jazz releases on the relaunched Turtle Records label. We begin with one of the most highly respected and collectable modern jazz figures today; composer, musician and band-leader Mike Westbrook. A pioneer of British Jazz since the early 1960s and still creating today.