Paul Michael Westwood

Lecturing and teaching

Paul’s teaching career includes:

• London College of Music at the University of West London (2008 to date)
  Jazz and Popular Music: bass guitar BMus (Hons), MMus Performance

• Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance (2002 to date)
  Jazz: bass guitar BMus (Hons), MMus Performance

• Morley College (1997 to date)
  Bass guitar and Jazz workshops: beginners to advanced level.
• Royal Academy of Music (1994-2007)
  Jazz: bass guitar BMus (Hons) Performance.
  Media & Applied Music: recording, composition & performance BMus.

Research projects

• Elizabethan music: Experiments with early 17th century English melodies, melding with Turkish rhythm and harmony of the times.
• Henry Purcell: Late 17th century songs and their influence on 20th century jazz and Motown.
• Turkish music: The Maqam harmonic system and ethnic percussion influences on European music.
• Moroccan and Andalusian music: A journey through regional variations of the music.
• Sir Thomas Brown: The relevance of 17th century numerology, cosmology and alchemy in contemporary music.
• John Coltrane: Spirituality, symbolism and structure used in 20th century ‘free-form’ jazz.
• World Music: Contemporary developments in digital and analogue bass guitars and their use in performance.

Composition and Performance

Jazz

Paul Westwood’s Jazz FX.
Compositions for his own group include: Jaguarisms, The Earth Born, El Rif, Storm Watcher, The Art of Snake Charming, Arabethan Tales, The Garden of Cyrus, Musical Souls.

Performance

Commercial recording, composition and studio work (1978 to date)
Paul has composed, arranged and recorded 16 albums of media music, which have been used extensively by KPM Ltd, De Wolfe Ltd, ITV, BBC and Sky for signature tunes, incidental music and advertising jingles.

Albums

Paul has been a top London session musician, working on albums for many artists including Warren Bernhardt, David Bowie, Jose Carreras, Larry Coryell, Steve Gadd, Peter Green, Elton John, Nik Kershaw, Leiber & Stoller, Andrew Lloyd Webber, London Symphony Orchestra, Madonna, George Martin, George Michael, Gilbert O’Sullivan, Phil Ramone, Tim Rice, Cliff Richard, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Shadows, Wayne Shorter, Rod Stewart, Barbara Thompson and John Williams (gtr).

Film Soundtracks

He has performed on numerous film soundtracks for composers who include John Altman, John Barry, David Bowie, Carl Davis, George Fenton, Ron Goodwin, Trevor Jones, Peter Knight, Michel Le Grand, Henry Mancini, Paul McCartney, The Sex Pistols, Debbie Wiseman and Hans Zimmer. In 2018, Paul was bass guitar coach to actor Joe Mazzello, who played the part of John Deacon in the Academy Award-winning movie Bohemian Rhapsody.

Television Shows

Paul has performed on many TV shows with artists such as George Benson, Chuck Berry, Joe Cocker, Randy Crawford, Gloria Estefan, James Galway, Janet Jackson, Al Jarreau, Tom Jones, Luciano Pavarotti, The Temptations, Dionne Warwick and Barry White.

International Tours and Concerts

Paul has also toured in over 25 countries worldwide.

Output / Publications

(Forthcoming publication Autumn 2020) ‘Bass and Korean Percussion Bible’, AMA Verlag, Germany.
Bass guitar and percussion tuition book: Asian traditional percussion and its influences on contemporary western bass lines. Suitable for beginners to advanced level. Styles featured compliment rock, pop, funk, jazz and Latin music. Includes 3 CDs of examples of playing styles.

(Forthcoming publication Spring 2020) ‘Bass Bible 2’, AMA Verlag, Germany.
Bass guitar tuition book: a world history of traditional and contemporary bass lines. Suitable for beginners to advanced level. A sequel to the original Bass Bible, BB2 explores further examples of rock, pop, funk, jazz and world music. Includes 3 CDs of examples of playing styles.

‘A-Z of Bass Guitar’, Music Sales Ltd. 2011, ISBN 978-1-84938-865-8
Tuition and demonstration DVD of contemporary bass guitar styles and techniques.

‘Bass Bible’, AMA Verlag, Germany, revised 3rd edition, 2011.
English, ISBN 3-927190-67-5; French, ISBN 3-932587-30-8; German, ISBN 3-927190-84-5; Japanese, ISBN 4-7549-3481-4; Chinese, ISRC CN-Q06-04-0031-0/A.G4.

‘Bass Bible’, AMA Verlag, Germany, revised 2nd edition, 2004.

‘The Bassist’, Bass Player Magazine, 2002.
A series of magazine articles about the music business.

‘Bass Bible’, AMA Verlag, Germany, 1st edition, 1997.
Bass guitar tuition book: a world history of traditional and contemporary bass lines, featuring styles that include rock, pop, funk, jazz Latin and world music. Suitable for beginners to advanced level. Translations in English, French and German. Includes 2 CDs of examples of playing styles.

‘The Complete Bass Guitar Player’, Music Sales Ltd. 1991. Omnibus OV10267.
Tuition and demonstration video of contemporary bass guitar styles and techniques.