ALCYONA MICK & TORI FREESTONE
The art of the duo can be a precarious affair, and a setting that is often favoured by improvising musicians with its intimate sound world and room for conversational improvisation. The duos that work best are frequented by musicians that are fearless, relishing in the exposed setting that they find themselves, and who are also unhindered by stylistic boundaries.
Two such musicians are pianist, Alycona Mick and tenor/soprano saxophonist and flautist, Tori Freestone and this is ably demonstrated on their latest album for Whirlwind Recordings entitled Criss Cross. Exploring music by Thelonious Monk in the title track, coupled with the Alcyona and Tori's fondness for dipping into folk and world music we are presented with a rich and diverse set.
When asking the two ladies about their all time favourite albums, they elected to split the ten choices evenly between them saying:
Two such musicians are pianist, Alycona Mick and tenor/soprano saxophonist and flautist, Tori Freestone and this is ably demonstrated on their latest album for Whirlwind Recordings entitled Criss Cross. Exploring music by Thelonious Monk in the title track, coupled with the Alcyona and Tori's fondness for dipping into folk and world music we are presented with a rich and diverse set.
When asking the two ladies about their all time favourite albums, they elected to split the ten choices evenly between them saying:
TORI FREESTONE
So here's my 5 of the playlist and why...
HERMETO PASCOAL - Natureza Universal
I love Hermeto Pascoal and definitely had to have a Hermeto album on this playlist, especially as one of the tunes on the new duo album is called ‘Hermetica’ and an obvious tribute to the great man. I really wasn’t sure which to choose but thought I’d go for the big band album I’ve mentioned as the first time I got to see Hermeto was when he was over playing this music with the UK big band back in 1994 and it was such an inspiring gig for me also with some of my favourite UK musicians who’ve also been such an inspiration too. I'd collected lots of his other albums up to this point. This kind of writing is what I strive for - although incredibly complex there’s joy, beauty, emotion and a sense of roots and tradition in the composing and playing. Hermeto is such an incredible musician and a huge inspiration. I was lucky enough to be part of the UK all star big band in July 2017 for his 80th birthday anniversary gig at the Barbican which was a dream come true. Alcy was asked too but sadly couldn’t do it as she was abroad on tour. I know she’s also very influenced by Hermeto and a lot of my favourite music (and I'm sure Alcyona's too) has grown out of Hermeto's legacy - such as that by Iain Ballamy, Django Bates/Delightful Precipice, Loose tubes etc
So here's my 5 of the playlist and why...
HERMETO PASCOAL - Natureza Universal
I love Hermeto Pascoal and definitely had to have a Hermeto album on this playlist, especially as one of the tunes on the new duo album is called ‘Hermetica’ and an obvious tribute to the great man. I really wasn’t sure which to choose but thought I’d go for the big band album I’ve mentioned as the first time I got to see Hermeto was when he was over playing this music with the UK big band back in 1994 and it was such an inspiring gig for me also with some of my favourite UK musicians who’ve also been such an inspiration too. I'd collected lots of his other albums up to this point. This kind of writing is what I strive for - although incredibly complex there’s joy, beauty, emotion and a sense of roots and tradition in the composing and playing. Hermeto is such an incredible musician and a huge inspiration. I was lucky enough to be part of the UK all star big band in July 2017 for his 80th birthday anniversary gig at the Barbican which was a dream come true. Alcy was asked too but sadly couldn’t do it as she was abroad on tour. I know she’s also very influenced by Hermeto and a lot of my favourite music (and I'm sure Alcyona's too) has grown out of Hermeto's legacy - such as that by Iain Ballamy, Django Bates/Delightful Precipice, Loose tubes etc
JONI MITCHELL - Travelogue
I had to have a Joni album on here as she’s been a huge inspiration since I first heard her records at home when I was growing up. I became totally obsessed with her music during my teenage years and did a dissertation on her at college looking at her journey from folk through to jazz and analysing about 30 of her 50 or so open tunings. Throughout this journey she has always had her own voice and she can’t really be put into any of the genres she’s often been labelled with which is something that's often frustrated and even angered the musical press - she's just Joni - putting her beautiful poetry to her timeless music. A very natural musician and songwriter (she can't read music yet produces the best) who surpasses genres and pigeon holing. It was so hard to pick a specific album as I love all of them especially 'Hejira', 'Blue' and 'Hissing of Summer Lawns', but it had to be 'Travelogue' as I love the way Vince Mendoza utilises those beautiful Jaco Pastorius lines in the orchestration, capturing the great interplay between Joni and Jaco from the original recording. I also love Wayne Shorter's playing and it was on Joni Mitchell and Weather Report albums that I first heard Wayne when I was young and his playing and sound always had a strong effect on me. I love the way he interacts with Joni and interprets her music. I feel his playing is almost like pointillism adding the final touches to her writing in the perfect way. I did an arrangement of Both Sides now for my trio and we’ll be performing that with Brigitte Beraha on some of the gigs on the album release tour so it also felt apt to include a Joni Mitchell album with this being a joint playlist for the duo project.
I had to have a Joni album on here as she’s been a huge inspiration since I first heard her records at home when I was growing up. I became totally obsessed with her music during my teenage years and did a dissertation on her at college looking at her journey from folk through to jazz and analysing about 30 of her 50 or so open tunings. Throughout this journey she has always had her own voice and she can’t really be put into any of the genres she’s often been labelled with which is something that's often frustrated and even angered the musical press - she's just Joni - putting her beautiful poetry to her timeless music. A very natural musician and songwriter (she can't read music yet produces the best) who surpasses genres and pigeon holing. It was so hard to pick a specific album as I love all of them especially 'Hejira', 'Blue' and 'Hissing of Summer Lawns', but it had to be 'Travelogue' as I love the way Vince Mendoza utilises those beautiful Jaco Pastorius lines in the orchestration, capturing the great interplay between Joni and Jaco from the original recording. I also love Wayne Shorter's playing and it was on Joni Mitchell and Weather Report albums that I first heard Wayne when I was young and his playing and sound always had a strong effect on me. I love the way he interacts with Joni and interprets her music. I feel his playing is almost like pointillism adding the final touches to her writing in the perfect way. I did an arrangement of Both Sides now for my trio and we’ll be performing that with Brigitte Beraha on some of the gigs on the album release tour so it also felt apt to include a Joni Mitchell album with this being a joint playlist for the duo project.
PACO DE LUCIA - Interpreta a Manuel de Falla
Again another album I used to hear around the house when I was very young. A lot of flamenco was played at home - it was a house full of guitars and my family listened to a lot of guitar heavy music, flamenco and Spanish classical music being part of that. My sister trained at the Royal Academy of Music as a classical guitarist and violinist so I heard a lot of Joaquin Rodrigo, Granados, Segovia etc daily but I became obsessed with Manuel de Falla and the way he used Spanish folk music in his work and used the orchestra like a huge guitar. I did my dissertation for A level on this subject. I was also obsessed with Paco de Lucia and got to see him perform at the Albert hall when I was about 11. I loved this album particularly when I was growing up (my dad had it on vinyl as well as others) and I played it over and over. I also really like Jorge Pardo and the textures and effects he gets out of the flute. He really influenced me at a very early stage and I used to practice all those textural techniques after listening to his playing. I started out playing flute (and violin) and only moved on to sax way after I left college and there wasn’t so much of a jazz flute catalogue out there as there was for other instrumentalists. I think my ears were very attracted to Latin influenced music such as flamenco, Brazilian and Cuban as the flute was always something my ears were drawn to (I’d always picked up whistles and wind instruments that were in the house as opposed to the guitars/string instruments as their feel and sound seemed to connect with me). I think the sound of this album had a huge influence. Perhaps it’s something you can hear in the track 'Hermetica'. If this was a playlist related to my trio, I’d probably be picking albums such as Joe Henderson 'State of the Tenor', Julian Arguelles Trio 'Partita', Tony Malaby ‘Apparitions’, Marc Miralta 'Sun Sol' as I don’t play any flute in that project, but relating to the duo with Alcyona I think this album has more relevance as I’m getting to use different instrumentation in the project and it especially lends itself to writing for the flute. Whatever the case, this particular Paco de Lucia album is very close to my heart and a real foundation for those early years of musical development.
Again another album I used to hear around the house when I was very young. A lot of flamenco was played at home - it was a house full of guitars and my family listened to a lot of guitar heavy music, flamenco and Spanish classical music being part of that. My sister trained at the Royal Academy of Music as a classical guitarist and violinist so I heard a lot of Joaquin Rodrigo, Granados, Segovia etc daily but I became obsessed with Manuel de Falla and the way he used Spanish folk music in his work and used the orchestra like a huge guitar. I did my dissertation for A level on this subject. I was also obsessed with Paco de Lucia and got to see him perform at the Albert hall when I was about 11. I loved this album particularly when I was growing up (my dad had it on vinyl as well as others) and I played it over and over. I also really like Jorge Pardo and the textures and effects he gets out of the flute. He really influenced me at a very early stage and I used to practice all those textural techniques after listening to his playing. I started out playing flute (and violin) and only moved on to sax way after I left college and there wasn’t so much of a jazz flute catalogue out there as there was for other instrumentalists. I think my ears were very attracted to Latin influenced music such as flamenco, Brazilian and Cuban as the flute was always something my ears were drawn to (I’d always picked up whistles and wind instruments that were in the house as opposed to the guitars/string instruments as their feel and sound seemed to connect with me). I think the sound of this album had a huge influence. Perhaps it’s something you can hear in the track 'Hermetica'. If this was a playlist related to my trio, I’d probably be picking albums such as Joe Henderson 'State of the Tenor', Julian Arguelles Trio 'Partita', Tony Malaby ‘Apparitions’, Marc Miralta 'Sun Sol' as I don’t play any flute in that project, but relating to the duo with Alcyona I think this album has more relevance as I’m getting to use different instrumentation in the project and it especially lends itself to writing for the flute. Whatever the case, this particular Paco de Lucia album is very close to my heart and a real foundation for those early years of musical development.
WAYNE SHORTER - Footprints Live
I’ve always loved Wayne Shorter’s playing since those early years hearing him on Joni Mitchell and Weather Report albums. In my later teenage years and through college I got obsessed with all those Blue Note albums and his work with Miles of course, but when I went to hear his first gig with this band in the UK (Brian Blade, John Patitucci and Danilo Perez) at the London Jazz Festival which I think was way back in 2001 (and then saw them every time they were in the UK after that) I was on cloud 9. Brian Blade was already one of my favourite drummers (I love the Fellowship albums too) and the way this band interact with the weaving of ideas and incredible interplay is what I most love about the art of improvisation. He’s such an inspiration to still be creating music like this and pushing the boundaries. I know this band has had a huge influence on Alcy too as she had a similar experience seeing the band live at the Umbria Jazz Festival (lucky thing) so I thought it’s another relevant album relating to this duo project. It’s because of Wayne that I decided to finally take up the sax after I left college. I’d tried to be solely a flute player as I felt (and still feel) the instrument deserves focus and dedication, but one day I just had a huge urge to go and buy a sop and try and recreate that incredible sound he has :-) I actually auditioned at the Guildhall as a joint first study flute/sax player using the sop and only bought a tenor after I’d got a place there. Alcyona's written for soprano in the duo too which is a delight for me.
I’ve always loved Wayne Shorter’s playing since those early years hearing him on Joni Mitchell and Weather Report albums. In my later teenage years and through college I got obsessed with all those Blue Note albums and his work with Miles of course, but when I went to hear his first gig with this band in the UK (Brian Blade, John Patitucci and Danilo Perez) at the London Jazz Festival which I think was way back in 2001 (and then saw them every time they were in the UK after that) I was on cloud 9. Brian Blade was already one of my favourite drummers (I love the Fellowship albums too) and the way this band interact with the weaving of ideas and incredible interplay is what I most love about the art of improvisation. He’s such an inspiration to still be creating music like this and pushing the boundaries. I know this band has had a huge influence on Alcy too as she had a similar experience seeing the band live at the Umbria Jazz Festival (lucky thing) so I thought it’s another relevant album relating to this duo project. It’s because of Wayne that I decided to finally take up the sax after I left college. I’d tried to be solely a flute player as I felt (and still feel) the instrument deserves focus and dedication, but one day I just had a huge urge to go and buy a sop and try and recreate that incredible sound he has :-) I actually auditioned at the Guildhall as a joint first study flute/sax player using the sop and only bought a tenor after I’d got a place there. Alcyona's written for soprano in the duo too which is a delight for me.
JULIAN ARGÜELLES - Phaedrus
Julian is an incredibly inspiring musician and person to me and this album shows at such a young age an already strong unique and individual voice as well as great command of the instrument. He's still continually developing and honing his craft and is such a world class musician. I also think the way JT plays on Phaedrus is some of my favourite playing by him and I love the way him and Julian play together. I wanted to have some John Taylor in here as I think he's been a huge influence on all generations of the UK jazz scene. It's very difficult to hear a pianist in the UK without that influence and it's one of the reasons I think there are so many great jazz pianists in this country. I love the way that a lot of UK pianists have their own unique voices too but the influence of JT is present in there and that's something I love about Alcy's playing - so many influences but you can tell it's her immediately.
I feel I've missed so many albums off which have been hugely influential - Jarrett's bands with Dewey Redman and with Jan Garbarek, Coltrane, Joe Henderson, George Coleman, Kenny Wheeler, Stan Sulzmann (I could go on and on) but in relation to the roots of this project with Alcyona I think these have most relevance. I'll be interested to see what Alcyona comes up with now 😊.
Julian is an incredibly inspiring musician and person to me and this album shows at such a young age an already strong unique and individual voice as well as great command of the instrument. He's still continually developing and honing his craft and is such a world class musician. I also think the way JT plays on Phaedrus is some of my favourite playing by him and I love the way him and Julian play together. I wanted to have some John Taylor in here as I think he's been a huge influence on all generations of the UK jazz scene. It's very difficult to hear a pianist in the UK without that influence and it's one of the reasons I think there are so many great jazz pianists in this country. I love the way that a lot of UK pianists have their own unique voices too but the influence of JT is present in there and that's something I love about Alcy's playing - so many influences but you can tell it's her immediately.
I feel I've missed so many albums off which have been hugely influential - Jarrett's bands with Dewey Redman and with Jan Garbarek, Coltrane, Joe Henderson, George Coleman, Kenny Wheeler, Stan Sulzmann (I could go on and on) but in relation to the roots of this project with Alcyona I think these have most relevance. I'll be interested to see what Alcyona comes up with now 😊.
ALCYONA MICK
LENNIE TRISTANO - Tristano
Tristano was really ahead of his time, his ideas are massively innovative on this album and it was a ground breaking moment for me when I first heard this whilst studying.
After transcribing his solo on 'Line up', it opened a lot of doors, changing the way I was thinking about playing and practising, especially over changes. The way the bar lines disappear and you can make the changes fit you rather than feeling like the changes are in charge of your playing. It deepened the whole experience of playing jazz for me, and gave me a sense of greater freedom.
LENNIE TRISTANO - Tristano
Tristano was really ahead of his time, his ideas are massively innovative on this album and it was a ground breaking moment for me when I first heard this whilst studying.
After transcribing his solo on 'Line up', it opened a lot of doors, changing the way I was thinking about playing and practising, especially over changes. The way the bar lines disappear and you can make the changes fit you rather than feeling like the changes are in charge of your playing. It deepened the whole experience of playing jazz for me, and gave me a sense of greater freedom.
JIMMY GIUFFRE 3 - 1961 (Reissue of Fusion and Thesis)
For me this is a timeless and beautiful album.
Giuffre, Paul Bley and Steve Swallow leave so much space in their playing, allowing the music to breathe, alongside the gorgeous writing, and completely transport you into their world.
Playing as a duo can tempt one to overplay at times because you feel you have more space to fill and therefore need to fill it, but albums like this remind me of the power of simplicity.
I've always liked Carla Bley's writing, which features on this album with tracks like the beautiful 'Jesus, Maria' and 'Temporarily' and Giuffre's catchy 'That's true, that's true' and crunchy 'Emphasis'.
For me this is a timeless and beautiful album.
Giuffre, Paul Bley and Steve Swallow leave so much space in their playing, allowing the music to breathe, alongside the gorgeous writing, and completely transport you into their world.
Playing as a duo can tempt one to overplay at times because you feel you have more space to fill and therefore need to fill it, but albums like this remind me of the power of simplicity.
I've always liked Carla Bley's writing, which features on this album with tracks like the beautiful 'Jesus, Maria' and 'Temporarily' and Giuffre's catchy 'That's true, that's true' and crunchy 'Emphasis'.
GIL EVANS - There comes a time
This is such a vibey and unique album. I discovered it when I was at college in Birmingham. The writing is so open for a large ensemble, and sonically the intermingling of electric and acoustic, keyboards, mental percussion and David Sanborn (!) blowing epic story-telling solos over the top of luscious repeating horn phrases is something I've always enjoyed listening to.
I think this album has a lot of emotional depth and although I don't listen to much of Sanborn's other records, I love the way he develops his solo over the extended melancholy horn sequences. It also seems like the musicians weren't tied rigidly to their parts but that they could come in and out freely with the written phrases.
This is such a vibey and unique album. I discovered it when I was at college in Birmingham. The writing is so open for a large ensemble, and sonically the intermingling of electric and acoustic, keyboards, mental percussion and David Sanborn (!) blowing epic story-telling solos over the top of luscious repeating horn phrases is something I've always enjoyed listening to.
I think this album has a lot of emotional depth and although I don't listen to much of Sanborn's other records, I love the way he develops his solo over the extended melancholy horn sequences. It also seems like the musicians weren't tied rigidly to their parts but that they could come in and out freely with the written phrases.
JESUS ALEMAÑY'S - Cubanismo
My sister and I enjoyed listening to Salsa when we were younger and it's always been an influence on my playing. I know it is one of Tori's influences as well as she used to play regularly with a Salsa band in Manchester.
This album used to be playing a lot in the organic food shop I worked in when I first moved to London, and got me back into listening to Salsa. Now I'm involved more in the Salsa scene in London but as a dancer rather than a musician!
My sister and I enjoyed listening to Salsa when we were younger and it's always been an influence on my playing. I know it is one of Tori's influences as well as she used to play regularly with a Salsa band in Manchester.
This album used to be playing a lot in the organic food shop I worked in when I first moved to London, and got me back into listening to Salsa. Now I'm involved more in the Salsa scene in London but as a dancer rather than a musician!
DUKE ELLINGTON - Duke Ellington meets Coleman Hawkins
I always feel warm inside when I listen to Ellington and it was difficult to pick one of his albums as there are so many, but this is a classic.
When I listen to this album I feel some of the history of what has inspired so many musicians. The tracks are killing - 'Mood Indigo', 'Jeep is jumpin'....
Need I say more?
I always feel warm inside when I listen to Ellington and it was difficult to pick one of his albums as there are so many, but this is a classic.
When I listen to this album I feel some of the history of what has inspired so many musicians. The tracks are killing - 'Mood Indigo', 'Jeep is jumpin'....
Need I say more?
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