Michael Brook
Encyclopedia
Michael Brook is a Canadian guitarist
, inventor, producer
, and film
music
composer
. He plays in many genres, including rock, electronica, world music, minimalism
and film scores.
He was nominated for a Grammy Award
in 1996 for his production work and as a co-artist on Pakistan
i singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's album Night Song. Another notable collaboration was Sleeps with the Fishes with Clan Of Xymox
member Pieter Nooten (4AD
, 1987).
He toured as a member of the Sylvian
and Fripp
tour group, with the final concert at the Royal Albert Hall
in December 1994 documented on the album Damage: Live
. He also opened the concerts with a solo set, featuring the Infinite Guitar
with effects and sequencer backing. In 1998, he produced the album "Volcán: Tributo a José José
", a tribute album to singer Jose Jose
. In 2006, the solo album RockPaperScissors was released, with an ambient remix version following in 2007. Brook toured small venues in Canada and the United States in late January/early February, 2007.
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, inventor, producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, and film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
. He plays in many genres, including rock, electronica, world music, minimalism
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
and film scores.
He was nominated for a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
in 1996 for his production work and as a co-artist on Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
i singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's album Night Song. Another notable collaboration was Sleeps with the Fishes with Clan Of Xymox
Clan of Xymox
The band Clan of Xymox, also known as Xymox, formed in the Netherlands in 1981. Clan Of Xymox featured a trio of songwriters - Pieter Nooten, Ronny Moorings and Anke [also Anka] Wolbert - and gained success in the 1980s, releasing their first two albums on a prestigious independent UK label, a...
member Pieter Nooten (4AD
4AD
4AD is a British independent record label that was started in 1979 by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, funded by Beggars Banquet Records, and is still active today...
, 1987).
He toured as a member of the Sylvian
David Sylvian
David Sylvian is an English singer-songwriter and musician who came to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead vocalist and main songwriter in the group Japan...
and Fripp
Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
tour group, with the final concert at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
in December 1994 documented on the album Damage: Live
Damage: Live
Damage is a live recording of a 1993 tour by David Sylvian and Robert Fripp. It is taken from the final show of the tour.This album, originally mixed by Fripp, was first released in 1994 as a limited edition box set: a 24-carat gold CD and 32-page colour booklet in a jewel box inside a cardboard...
. He also opened the concerts with a solo set, featuring the Infinite Guitar
Infinite Guitar
The Infinite Guitar was created by Michael Brook, as a way of allowing an electric guitar note to be held with infinite sustain . It consists of an electronic circuit that takes the signal from a standard guitar pickup, amplifies it, and feeds it back into a separate pickup coil...
with effects and sequencer backing. In 1998, he produced the album "Volcán: Tributo a José José
Volcán: Tributo a José José
Volcán: Tributo a José José is a 1998 tribute album to Mexican singer José José.Paying homage to José José for his influence on Latin pop music, the album was recorded by several popular Latin artists such as Molotov, Cafe Tacuba, Julieta Venegas, Moenia, Beto Cuevas, and Aleks Syntek.The main...
", a tribute album to singer Jose Jose
José José
José Rómulo Sosa Ortiz , known by his artistic name José José, is a Mexican singer.Referred in the entertainment world as "El Príncipe de la Canción" , José José is best known for his romantic ballads and renowned for his vocals...
. In 2006, the solo album RockPaperScissors was released, with an ambient remix version following in 2007. Brook toured small venues in Canada and the United States in late January/early February, 2007.
Studio & live albums
- Hybrid (1985 EGE.G. RecordsE.G. Records was a UK-based artist management company and independent record label, mostly active during the 1970s and 1980s. The initials stand for its founders, David Enthoven and John Gaydon. The pair signed on as managers of King Crimson in early 1969, during the formative stage of the band and...
) – solo material with Brian EnoBrian EnoBrian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
and Daniel LanoisDaniel LanoisDaniel Lanois born September 19, 1951 in Hull, Quebec) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has released a number of albums of his own work and has produced albums for a wide variety of artists, including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris, Willie...
collaboration. - Sleeps with the Fishes (1987 4AD4AD4AD is a British independent record label that was started in 1979 by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, funded by Beggars Banquet Records, and is still active today...
) - collaboration with Pieter Nooten from Clan of XymoxClan of XymoxThe band Clan of Xymox, also known as Xymox, formed in the Netherlands in 1981. Clan Of Xymox featured a trio of songwriters - Pieter Nooten, Ronny Moorings and Anke [also Anka] Wolbert - and gained success in the 1980s, releasing their first two albums on a prestigious independent UK label, a...
. - Mustt MusttMustt MusttMustt Mustt is the first Qawwali fusion album collaboration between singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and guitarist and producer Michael Brook, although the album itself is credited purely to Khan. It was rock musician Peter Gabriel who suggested that Brook and Khan work together...
(1990 RealWorldReal World RecordsReal World Records is a record label started in 1989 by Peter Gabriel to record and produce world music.-Overview:The label grew up alongside the success of the WOMAD festivals and Peter Gabriel's exploration of music from other cultures, and helped push world music into the general public's...
) – collaboration with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, record is credited only to Ali Khan. - Cobalt Blue (1992 4AD) – solo record, mostly electric guitar.
- Live at the Aquarium (1993 4AD) – recording of a live concert, sometimes packaged together with Cobalt Blue.
- Shona (1995 Sine) - an unofficial release, recorded live during the Lanzarote Music Festival, December 1989.
- Damage: LiveDamage: LiveDamage is a live recording of a 1993 tour by David Sylvian and Robert Fripp. It is taken from the final show of the tour.This album, originally mixed by Fripp, was first released in 1994 as a limited edition box set: a 24-carat gold CD and 32-page colour booklet in a jewel box inside a cardboard...
(1994 Virgin) - with Robert Fripp and David Sylvian - Dream (1995 RealWorld) - collaboration with U. SrinivasU. SrinivasUppalapu Shrinivas , is an Indian mandolin player of the Carnatic musical tradition of Southern India. Shrinivas plays an electric mandolin and has collaborated with John McLaughlin, Michael Nyman, and Michael Brook...
and Trey GunnTrey GunnTrey Gunn is an American musician, known for his membership in progressive rock band King Crimson from 1994 to 2003, playing Warr Guitar and Chapman Stick.-Biography:...
. - Night SongNight SongNight Song is an album by qawwal Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and guitarist and producer Michael Brook. It was the last album on Real World Records that Khan lived to see finished...
(1996 RealWorld) – second collaboration with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. - Star RiseStar RiseStar Rise is a remix from two previous Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan / Michael Brook collaborations. The album was dedicated to the memory of Khan, who died prior to the album's completion, and released posthumously by Real World Records....
(1997 RealWorld) - last collaboration with Khan, remix album of tracks from Mustt MusttMustt MusttMustt Mustt is the first Qawwali fusion album collaboration between singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and guitarist and producer Michael Brook, although the album itself is credited purely to Khan. It was rock musician Peter Gabriel who suggested that Brook and Khan work together...
and Night SongNight SongNight Song is an album by qawwal Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and guitarist and producer Michael Brook. It was the last album on Real World Records that Khan lived to see finished...
. - Black Rock (1998 RealWorld) - collaboration with Djivan GasparyanDjivan GasparyanDjivan Gasparyan is an Armenian musician and composer. He plays the duduk, a double reed woodwind instrument related to the orchestral oboe. Gasparyan is known as the Master of the duduk.-Biography:...
. - Assembly (2002 RealWorld) - collaboration with Hukwe ZawoseHukwe ZawoseHukwe Ubi Zawose was a prominent Tanzanian musician. He was a member of the Gogo ethnic group and played the ilimba, a large lamellophone similar to the mbira, as well as several other traditional instruments...
. - RockPaperScissorsRockPaperScissorsRockPaperScissors – most recent solo record of Canadian guitarist, inventor and producer Michael Brook and main song with the same name....
(2006 Canadian Rational) – most recent solo record. - BellCurve (2007) – a remix of the album RockPaperScissors by James Hood.
- Penumbra (2008 Canadian Rational/bigHelium) - collaboration with Djivan Gasparyan.
Soundtracks
- CaptiveCaptive SoundtrackThe soundtrack for the 1986 UK film Captive is the only solo album to date by The Edge, guitarist of U2. It is also the only solo album to date by one of the members of U2....
(1986) – co-writer/producer with The EdgeThe EdgeDavid Howell Evans , more widely known by his stage name The Edge , is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record...
. - Heat (1995)
- Albino AlligatorAlbino AlligatorAlbino Alligator is a 1997 film directed by Kevin Spacey in his directorial debut. It stars Matt Dillon, Gary Sinise and William Fichtner as three small-time criminals who take hostages when they are cornered by the police...
(1997) - AfflictionAffliction (film)Affliction is an US-American drama film produced in 1997, written and directed by Paul Schrader from the novel by Russell Banks. It stars Nick Nolte, Sissy Spacek, James Coburn and Willem Dafoe....
(1999) - Crime and Punishment in SuburbiaCrime and Punishment in SuburbiaCrime and Punishment in Suburbia is a 2000 film directed by Rob Schmidt and starring Monica Keena , Ellen Barkin , Michael Ironside , James DeBello and Vincent Kartheiser ....
(2000) - Mission Impossible 2 (2000)
- Black Hawk Down (2001) - music composed by Hans ZimmerHans ZimmerHans Florian Zimmer is a German film composer and music producer. He has composed music for over 100 films, including critically acclaimed film scores for The Lion King , Crimson Tide , The Thin Red Line , Gladiator , The Dark Knight and Inception .Zimmer spent the early part of his career in the...
- charlotte sometimesCharlotte Sometimes (film)Charlotte Sometimes is a 2002 film written, directed, and produced by Eric Byler.-Plot:Nominated for two 2003 Independent Spirit Awards, and hailed by Roger Ebert as a breakthrough for Asian American filmmakers, Charlotte Sometimes is a "mysterious and erotic" romance exploring the kinds of love...
(2002) - India: Kingdom of the TigerIndia: Kingdom of the TigerIndia: The Kingdom of Tiger is a 2002 IMAX documentary, based on writings of Jim Corbett, directed by Bruce Neibaur, about man-eating tigers and the conservation efforts of the tiger in India.-Plot:...
(2002) - An Inconvenient TruthAn Inconvenient TruthAn Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate citizens about global warming via a comprehensive slide show that, by his own estimate, he has given more than a thousand times.Premiering at the...
(2006) - TreTRETRE might stand for:*3 , a mobile operator in Sweden*Tampere, a city in Finland*Telecommunications Research Establishment, British radar research organization...
(2007) - Into the WildInto the Wild (film)Into the Wild is a 2007 American biographical drama film directed by Sean Penn. It is an adaptation of 1996 non-fiction book of the same name by Jon Krakauer based on the travels of Christopher McCandless across North America in the early 1990s. The film stars Emile Hirsch as McCandless with...
(2007) - AmericaneseAmericaneseAmericanese is a 2006 American independent film acquired by IFC Films but not yet released. It is a romantic drama about the break-up of a couple, about love and memory, and how race plays into the lives of contemporary Asian Americans and Hapa/mixed-race Americans.- Background :The film was...
(2008) - Road, MovieRoad, MovieRoad, Movie is a 2009 Indian road movie directed by Dev Benegal, and starring Abhay Deol, Tannishtha Chatterjee, and Satish Kaushik. It premiered at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival and opened the section Generation 14plus at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2010...
(2009) - The Fighter (2010)
- Country Strong (2010)
- EL InfiernoEl InfiernoHell is a 2010 Mexican black comedy film produced by Bandidos Films, directed by Luis Estrada and following the line of La ley de Herodes; it's a political satire about the drug trafficking in Mexico...
(2010) - DarwinDarwin (film)Darwin is a 2011 documentary film directed by Nick Brandestini. It is a portrait of the small and remote community of Darwin, located in California’s Mojave Desert...
(2011)
Soundtrack albums
- CaptiveCaptive SoundtrackThe soundtrack for the 1986 UK film Captive is the only solo album to date by The Edge, guitarist of U2. It is also the only solo album to date by one of the members of U2....
(1986 Virgin) – co-writer/producer with The EdgeThe EdgeDavid Howell Evans , more widely known by his stage name The Edge , is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record...
. - Albino AlligatorAlbino AlligatorAlbino Alligator is a 1997 film directed by Kevin Spacey in his directorial debut. It stars Matt Dillon, Gary Sinise and William Fichtner as three small-time criminals who take hostages when they are cornered by the police...
(1997 4AD4AD4AD is a British independent record label that was started in 1979 by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, funded by Beggars Banquet Records, and is still active today...
) - with guest vocals by Jimmy WebbJimmy WebbJimmy Webb is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He wrote numerous platinum selling classics, including "Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston", "The Worst That Could Happen", "All I Know", and "MacArthur Park"...
and Michael StipeMichael StipeJohn Michael Stipe is an American singer and lyricist. He was the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.Stipe is noted and occasionally parodied for the "mumbling" style of his early career as well as his social and political activism. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual image; often...
. - AfflictionAffliction (film)Affliction is an US-American drama film produced in 1997, written and directed by Paul Schrader from the novel by Russell Banks. It stars Nick Nolte, Sissy Spacek, James Coburn and Willem Dafoe....
(1999) - India: Kingdom of the TigerIndia: Kingdom of the TigerIndia: The Kingdom of Tiger is a 2002 IMAX documentary, based on writings of Jim Corbett, directed by Bruce Neibaur, about man-eating tigers and the conservation efforts of the tiger in India.-Plot:...
(2002) - An Inconvenient TruthAn Inconvenient TruthAn Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate citizens about global warming via a comprehensive slide show that, by his own estimate, he has given more than a thousand times.Premiering at the...
(2006) - Into the WildInto the Wild (film)Into the Wild is a 2007 American biographical drama film directed by Sean Penn. It is an adaptation of 1996 non-fiction book of the same name by Jon Krakauer based on the travels of Christopher McCandless across North America in the early 1990s. The film stars Emile Hirsch as McCandless with...
(2007 Lake Shore) - currently available only as a download.