Rick Simpson’s impeccable technique and restless imagination have earned him a place at the forefront of contemporary UK music. He’s equally at home exploring the tradition or pushing fearlessly against the boundaries, and now his unique creative voice is back in the spotlight with a typically idiosyncratic project: a re-framing of Radiohead’s Kid A album, featuring ten original arrangements of the source material played by an all-star band of like-minded musical mavericks.
Whirlwind recording artist Tori Freestone joins James Allsop to form the twin-saxophone frontline, and Simpson is joined in the rhythm section by by the universally respected veteran Dave Whitford on bass and upcoming young hotshot Will Glaser on drums.
The project was created to mark the 20th anniversary of the original album’s release, as part of a series of sell-out shows curated by Simpson at London’s Vortex club featuring non-jazz records rearranged with an improvisational focus. The original show was such a success, drawing in listeners from beyond the club’s regular audience, that Simpson re-assembled the band in the studio and recorded the entire album in a single afternoon session “I think the time pressure contributed to the performances. It’s really punchy and to the point, but a lot happens – it captures the energy so well”. There’s a wealth of detail to discover, and surprises at every turn.
'Everything In Its Right Place’ sets the scene, with the horns framing a beautifully constructed solo from Simpson, leading into the hushed piano intro of ‘Kid A’ that builds and builds towards a dramatic finale of controlled chaos. ‘The National Anthem’s’ fractured groove coalesces around a powerful bass figure, spontaneously created by Whitford: “Dave earths the whole thing, with his beautiful, massive amazing sound.” ‘How to Disappear Completely’ shimmers with banks of violins, ‘Treefingers’ is an oasis of stillness, and ‘Optimistic’ pulls the listener forward with its impetuous rhythmic rush. ‘In Limbo’ has a typically unique statement from Freestone, and ‘Idioteque’ allows Allsop to unleash his fearsome baritone sax: “Tori – she’s so free: she goes for it and doesn’t hold back, and she never plays any clichés. Her and James are such an amazing pairing – his baritone playing is some of the most dark, vibey playing I’ve ever heard.” ‘Morning Bell’ features a prodigious solo from drummer Will Glaser – “Will is such a complete musician: he completely understands the right thing to do in any situation. He’s a little demon.” ‘Motion Picture Soundtrack’ ends the journey with a hushed, contemplative ballad reading.
Simpson’s imaginative, free-flowing arrangements give his superb band space to unleash their own individual voices. Sometimes sticking closely to the original melodies, sometimes re-purposing elements as the jumping-off point for radically new explorations, he leads his creative cohort to create a thrillingly uncategorizable musical experience. This record takes the listener on a journey through an ever-changing landscape of powerfully emotive moods and textures, while still preserving the concise, focused energy and emotional directness of the original.
1. Everything In Its Right Place 02:51
2. Kid A 04:40
3. The National Anthem 03:49
4. How To Disappear Completely 05:59
5. Treefingers 03:22
6. Optimistic 04:26
7. In Limbo 04:52
8. Idioteque 03:41
9. Morning Bell 05:37
10. Motion Picture Soundtrack 03:20
Rick Simpson - piano/arrangements
Tori Freestone - tenor saxophone & violin (track 4)
With the playful opening bars of new release Criss Cross, the sublime world of tenor saxophonist and flautist Tori Freestone and pianist Alcyona Mick (plus guest vocalist Brigitte Beraha) is encapsulated through creative intrigue and improvisational dexterity, frequently glinting with mischievous spontaneity. Known for diverse roles in jazz, folk and world music, Freestone and Mick have been friends for years, performing together in different ensembles, including the London Jazz Orchestra. But it was casual duo explorations in music from their combined eclectic influences, taking in the output of Thelonious Monk, which led to an enthusiastic invitation from Manchester Jazz Festival’s artistic director, Steve Mead, to develop the project for live performance in 2015. “I’d always felt the two of us were like-minded”, explains Freestone. “We were in Tenerife, playing together quite a lot, and it felt so easy and so lovely (on rainy days, we’d just pull out another Monk tune); and we kept saying we should do it more often – and actually made it happen. Quite different from my trio with bassist Dave Manington and drummer Tim Giles – which is specifically chordless and very rhythmic – here we both shape the rhythm in a different way, following whatever direction the music takes us in; and with such amazing piano-playing, I can bring out the harmony in new and existing compositions”. Alcyona Mick reinforces the merits of the collaboration: “There’s plenty of space for creativity; and though a duo can be more challenging, I have much more freedom to use the whole piano – in this case, the beautifully warm, richly dark sound of a Fazioli Concert Grand at Stefano Amerio’s Artesuono studio in Italy”. In Tori Freestone’s mathematically challenging 8/11 ‘Hermetica’, Brigitte Beraha’s characteristically high, wordless tones intertwine with Brazilian-imbued flute and piano in breathtaking synchronicity, while ‘Charmed Life’ offers a lyrical beauty far from its trio origins as balmy tenor melodies are enfolded by Mick’s sensitively rippling undercurrents. As well as interpreting the inherent quirkiness of ‘Criss Cross’ (“I love how the form of the middle eight is so weird”, says Freestone), the spirit of Monk can also be found in Mick’s strutting, bluesy promenade, ‘Strange Behaviour’; and previously conceived for quintet, and then two pianos, her bustling ‘Exchange’ features complex, dancing keyboard figures and vehement conversations with Freestone’s soprano. The concerto-like breadth of Alcyona’s ‘Goodnight Computer’ demonstrates how they regularly open out on the bandstand, these wayfaring twelve minutes painting fluctuating vistas and moods. Tori’s folk-tune ‘Press Gang’ (from her 2016 release, El Barranco), takes on a new guise, Beraha’s emotive vocal elucidating its dark poetry; and comedic, theme-tune-like ‘Mrs PC’ (from the In the Chop House album) leaps and shrieks with unfettered glee. “We have great understanding and confidence in each others’ playing”, enthuses Freestone. “In fact, we sometimes find we’ve chosen to express exactly the same thing, prompting the mutual question, ‘How did you know I was going to do that?!’. We like to accept the challenge of whatever is put in front of us, finding a new way of getting inside the music; and Alcyona’s been working a lot on the world music scene recently, so it’s great to have her back on the jazz stage. Though the duo format can present a degree of vulnerability, this project especially engenders warmth, enjoyment and openness amongst the intensity and complexity. It’s both fun and heavy – a developing journey through the material and styles we love, all with the sheer joy of playing. On Criss Cross, we are delighted to have covered that range of emotions, which is so important to us”.
Reaching into the heart of improvised music has become second nature to British tenor saxophonist Tori Freestone and perennial colleagues Dave Manington (double bass) and Tim Giles (drums) on their latest Whirlwind release El Barranco. Following their warmly-received 2014 release In the Chop House and subsequent live appearances, the trio have relished the opportunity to reconvene in the studio to record this collection of intuitive explorations (often first takes) of predominantly original compositions, including a pair of London Jazz Festival commissions.
The challenge of the wide-open chordless format is enthusiastically embraced by this trio, offering an improvisational prospect which constantly evolves, thanks to their innate ability to share ideas and spontaneously flex in new directions. Tori Freestone’s characteristically voluble tenor delivery is a key factor in this artistic process: a continuous channel of flowing, tumbling lines arriving from a seemingly limitless, spring-like source; and the quicksilver responses and diversions of both Manington and Giles are so genuinely realised. All of this combines in creating delightful group unpredictability, via a mutual, carefully crafted musical vocabulary, which happily hovers on the periphery of delineated structure.
Freestone clearly revels in the recording aspect: “Whenever we go back into the studio, it’s so great to have a couple of days enjoying making music together. The more we tour in the UK and internationally the more the new ideas start to flow and develop, taking us up onto another level to where we can’t wait to put this down on a new album.”
The concept of creative spaciality is reflected in the saxophonist’s album title and own sleeve illustrations, referencing the beautiful, mountainous terrain of Tenerife – in particular, El Barranco de Masca – which, for many years, has remained especially close to her heart. Thus, the inspiration for opening title track ‘El Barranco’ arrived almost instantaneously, its airy nonchalance a perfect vehicle for the liquid, intertwined phrasing of tenor and bass, buoyed by an expressive lightness of touch from drummer Tim Giles. The first of two commissions, 'The Press Gang' echoes Freestone's musical roots with a suitably dark interpretation of the gloomy folk-tune tale (reprised as the album's end-piece, in appropriately traditional guise, by way of a haunting vocal-and-violin solo performance); and the full-tilt exuberance of contrasting partner piece 'Identity Protection' further reveals the trio's enthusiastic abandon.
Elsewhere, Dave Manington makes two compositional contributions, the thrummed, ‘60s soul bass riff of his ‘Challenger Deep’ setting up a distinctively alternative groove; and ‘Quetzalcoatlus’ (purportedly the largest prehistoric flying animal that ever lived) becomes increasingly wild, jagged and audaciously airborne. Arthur Attman’s familiar standard, ‘All Or Nothing At All’, is skilfully threaded between the players, Freestone’s mellow tenor fluidity as heartfelt as ever; and the snappy, complex, changeable moods and rhythms of ‘Cross Wired’ speak volumes about a trio whose creative understanding (contrary to its title) is so impressively fine-tuned.
Expounding on their now-established approach, Tori says, “We love that the freedom we enjoy creating in our playing can reach people in so many different ways. At one concert, someone who was new to jazz expressed to me that our music had taken them on a journey they never knew they could experience; so it’s lovely that somehow we have formed a language which, rather than being intellectual or inaccessible, can be both contemporary and relevant – and we really look forward to engaging audiences with the new material on this album.”
