Michael Brook was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. He studied electronic
music, the arts and African influence on American music at York University, Toronto.
It was there that he first met the world music trumpeter and minimalist Jon Hassell,
with whom he later toured, and through whom he met Lamonte Young under whom
he studied Indian music.
He achieved Canadian fame in the late 1970's by playing guitar with the successful
pop band Martha and the Muffins. His involvement with the group came via their
producer Daniel Lanois, with whom he worked as house engineer in the famous
Lanois brothers' Grant Avenue recording studio in Hamilton, Ontario. It was during
this period that he also met Harold Budd and Brian Eno (he helped Brian Eno make
videos in an artist's video facility which he had set up in Toronto, in return for which,
Brian Eno helped Michael with his music) It was these associations that led to
Michael's name cropping up on such albums as Eno's On Land (1982), and Hassell's
Magic Realism (1983).
In 1985, Michael's first solo album Hybrid, with contributions from both Brian Eno
and Daniel Lanois, was released on EG Records to great critical acclaim. A tour de
force, Hybrid is still pointed to as one of the great ethnic/ambient works of the
mid-1980s, and has recently been re-issued on CD. His second solo album Cobalt
Blue was released in 1992 by 4AD Records; this was followed shortly afterwards by
a limited edition live album Live at the Aquarium, recorded at The London Zoo
Aquarium on the occasion of the press reception to launch Cobalt Blue.
Between 1984 and 1989, Michael helped Brian Eno develop video sculpture and
sound installations in Italy, Germany, Canada, Sweden, Holland, Japan, Australia
and the United States of America. These included detailed design and
development of custom sound and lighting controllers.
In 1986 Michael collaborated with U2 guitarist, The Edge, on the soundtrack to the
film "Captive". This was an important recording in that it was the first solo outing to
come from the U2 camp and introduced vocalist Sinead O'Connor to the world at
large.
In addition to Michael Brook's work as a musician, he has produced recordings for
other artists, notably Roger Eno, Pieter Nooten, fellow Canadian Mary Margaret
O'Hara, the British band Balloon, and The Pogues.
In 1990, Michael produced two of the year's most acclaimed world music albums.
Set by Youssou N'Dour, and Mustt Mustt by Pakistan's Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. These
albums were voted number one and two respectively in the Guardian newspaper
and Rolling Stone Magazine's Pick Of The Year 1990 and where included in many
other year end 'best of' lists, including those in the Observer newspaper and Q
Magazine.
Other world music production credits include the 1991 album by the Algerian singer
Cheb Khaled (a co-production with Don Was) and albums by the Indian electric
mandolin player U Srinivas and the Armenian dudek player Gasparayan.
During 1992, Michael returned to film music, composing and playing the score for
the Academy Award nominated documentary film "The Fires of Kuwait". His score for
this film received acclaim from both critics and public alike.
Michael also served as guest musician on the 1991 album by Rain Tree Crow, a
one-off group comprising David Sylvian together with the other three former
members of Japan, and on Taxi, the 1993 release by Bryan Ferry.
His recent live work has included the Mustt Mustt Collaboration with Nusrat Fateh Ali
Khan at the Time Zones Festival, Bari, Italy in July 1991, and his solo tour in 1992
which included numerous dates in Europe and in the United States, where he
opened for John Cale. In October 1993, he joined David Sylvian and Robert Fripp on
their "Road to Graceland '93" world tour, where he performed solo as special guest
to open the show before joining Sylvian and Fripp as a band member for the main
set.
In recent years, Michael has worked at Real World Studios in England, producing
and recording. The album Dream with Indian electric mandolin player U Srinivas is
an experimental collaboration with Jane Siberry and Nigel Kennedy. Night Song
was released in February 1996 and is another collaborative work with Nusrat Fateh
Ali Khan. On both these albums Michael takes the roles of producer, composer and
player.
Toward the end of 1995, Michael was enlisted by film director Michael Mann, to
work on the soundtrack of his latest film "Heat", starring Al Pacino and Robert De
Niro. The success of this project led him to be invited to compose the musical score
for the directorial debut of Academy Award winning actor Kevin Spacey (Usual
Suspects). The movie is titled "Albino Alligator" and stars Matt Dillon, Gary Sinise
and Faye Dunaway. Michael is currently producing the new Julia Fordham album for
Virgin Records.
HEAT (Film) Michael Brook 1995
Select cues, song
contribution to soundtrack
MARIA......Jane Siberry 1995
Mixed select tracks
DREAM.....Michael Brook, U. Srinivas 1995
Composer, Producer, Player
THE LAST PROPHET.....Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan 1994
Producer
RAMA SREEMRAMA.....U. Srinivas 1994
Producer
MOON SHINES AT NIGHT.....Gasparayan 1993
Producer
WAITING FOR HERB.....The Pogues 1993
Producer, Player (Guitar)
TAXI.....Bryan Ferry 1993
Player (Guitar)
WHEN I WAS A BOY.....Jane Siberry 1993
Producer, Player (1 track)
Re-mixer (3 tracks)
FIRES OF KUWAIT.....Michael Brook 1992
IMAX Film Soundtrack
LIVE AT THE AQUARIUM.....Michael Brook 1992
Composer, Player, Producer
COBALT BLUE.....Michael Brook 1992
Composer, Player, Producer
GRAVITY.....Balloon 1991
Producer, Player (Guitar)
KHALED.....Cheb Khaled 1991
Producer, Player (Guitar)
RAIN TREE CROW.....Rain Tree Crow 1991
Player (Percussion, Treatments, Infinite Guitar)
SHAHBAZZ.....Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan 1990
Producer
MUSTT, MUSTT.....Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan 1990
Producer, Player (Guitar)
Compositional contribution
SET.....Youssou N'Dour 1990
Producer
MUSIC FOR FILMS II.....Brian Eno/ Daniel Lanois 1988
Producer, Player, and Others
Composition contributions
MISS AMERICA.....Mary Margaret O'Hara 1988
Producer
BETWEEN TIDES.....Roger Eno 1988
Producer, Engineer
THE CAPTIVE.....The Edge 1987
Film Soundtrack with Michael Brook
SLEEPS WITH FISHES.....Pieter Nooten / 1987
Producer, Player, Engineer Michael Brook
HYBRID.....Michael Brook 1985
Composer, Producer, Player
ON LAND.....Brian Eno 1984
Player (Guitar)
POSSIBLE MUSICS.....Brian Eno & Jon Hassell 1980
Player (Bass Guitar)
VERNAL EQUINOX.....Jon Hassell 1976
Engineer