REVIEWS:
LONDON JAZZ NEWS ‘Freestone and Mick enter that duo zone where close musical collaboration tunrs into symbiosis. Neither appears to lead or follow; they are simply co-creating’ - Jon Turney
The Guardian - ‘as an unaccompanied duo they stir a rare mix of jazz and folk, wit and improvised sharpness’ - John Fordham, The Guardian gig guide
Marlbank - ‘this saxophone-piano duo album of Tori Freestone and Alcyona Mick is a beautiful acheivement and certainly one of the best jazz albums in the UK we have heard this year’ - stephen@marlbank.net
JazzMann - ‘the ultimate glory rests with Mick and Freestone, whose shared musicla visionis at the hear of their second excellent album’ - Ian Mann
CONCERTO Magazine, Austria - Four star review. ‘the variety and expressive possibilties of this duo are certainly endless. New ways are explored to blur the boundaries between the written and the improvised’ - Herbert Höpfl, CONCERTO-Magazin, AUSTRIA.
JAZZTHETIK Magazin, Germany - ‘On the nine new pieces, the British musicians present themselves as a quicksilver duet full of shared ideas and interests, from the question of what else is in the fridge (enthralling; ‘In the Fridge’) to ornithology’ - Harry Schmidt, Jazzthetik Magazin.
Jazz-Fun.DE - ‘A remarkable and fascinating approach from Tori Freestone & Alcyona Mick, where words, phrases, sounds and harmonies become monoliths arranged in an unconventional music. The sound is apparently very classic, but the phrases that follow the ideas of the improvising artists can no longer be classified into any framework. However, the jazzy freedom of the musicians fits perfectly with such a performance formula. This music knows no shortcuts and, as always in such cases, you have to take your time. I assure you it will be worth it!’ - Jazz-Fun Recap
inMusic - Four star review ‘The Jazz world will be impressively enriched with this second album by the British duo’ - Duklas Frisch, InMusic Sept/Oktober 2023
UPCOMING TOUR DATES 2024:
19th June - Pizza Express Jazz Club, Soho, London
29th June - The Forge, Anvil Arts, Basingstoke
Past Tour dates:
22-23 - Scarborough Jazz festival
26th October - Album Launch @ The Vortex Jazz Club
22nd November - Cambridge Jazz Festival
28th November - Eastside Jazz Club, London (with Dave Whitford and Tim Giles)
8th December - Cafe Posk, Hammersmith (with Dave Whitford and Tim Giles)
19th January - the CRypt, Camberwell (with Dave Whitford and Tim Giles)
2nd February 2024 - Sendesaal, Bremen. Germany
10th February - Peggy’s Skylight, Nottingham (with Dave Whitford and Tim Giles)
11th February - Seven Arts, Leeds
16th February - 1000 Trades Jazz Club, Birmingham (with Dave Whitford and Tim Giles)
25th February - DB Museum, Nuremberg, Germany
7th March - Attenborough Centre, Leicester Jazz House
8th March - Crazy Coqs, Zedels, Piccadilly, London for International Womens day
15th March - Wakefield Jazz Club
12th April - JAZZAHEAD UK CLUBNIGHT @ Tor40, Bremen. 9.15pm
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
TORI FREESTONE/ALCYONA MICK DUO BIO
Tori and Alcyona formed their duo in 2015 and debuted in this line-up at Manchester Jazz Festival. Both much in demand players on the London jazz scene, the two have known each other for years, working together in many different ensembles including Ingrid and Christine Jensen Whirlwind bigband, Nikki Iles Big band, Cleo Laine/Alec Dankworth band, and are permanent members of the London Jazz Orchestra.
They recorded their debut album Criss Cross at the famous Artesuono Studio in Italy in 2017. It was released on the transatlantic label Whirlwind Recordings in 2018 to wide critical acclaim followed by an Arts Council funded tour of the UK and Germany with live radio performances.
More recently they received two awards from Help Musicians UK to write for and release their new album ‘Make One Little Room an Everywhere’, also recorded at Artesuono studio, which will be out later this year.
The duo have a very spontaneous, interactive approach and share a large range of musical influences that fall not only within the jazz genre, including English folk, Brazilian music, free playing, silent film, Monk and more. Performances have included an invitation from Steinway to perform at the Royal Albert Hall Elgar room, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Museo del Grifo (Spain), El Castillo (Canary Islands), Emotion Festival (Bremen), Halle 242 (Hamburg), Salle Krieps auditorium (Luxembourg) and the Manchester and London Jazz Festivals.
CRISS CROSS ALBUM REVIEW LINKS:
All About Jazz * * * *
CONCERTO MAGAZINE, AUSTRIA - ‘In a tightly held discourse there grows this never before heard sound, full of esprit, insight, experience and joie de vivre’ -
JAZZWISE review * * * * 'the album is warmer and more classically lyrical than you might expect from this mature yet inquisitive pair, but it's rooted in quirky intervention aswell'
JAZZ JOURNAL review - 'the tracks contain some of the finest interplay I have heard since Stan Getz and Kenny Barron recorded People Time, the playing is that wondrous... Without a doubt one of the finest albums of the year'
VIDEOS:
LINK to Duo & Quartet LIVE
LINK to PROMO VIDEO
LINK to LIVE @ El Castillo, Tenerife with Brigitte Beraha
LINK to LIVE concert @ St Mary’s Perivale. London
