Tori Freestone

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Tori Freestone is a Ivor Novello Award winning British saxophonist, flautist, violinist and composer who performs at the forefront of the UK improvised music scene as both a sidewomen and highly regarded bandleader. 

Freestone is known for her robust tenor sound, melodic invention as well as an ability to amalgamate into a variety of styles and musical contexts while maintaining her highly personal and distinct voice. As a composer Freestone's writing balances wit with playfulness while exploring new ways to blur the lines between the written and improvised. 

In addition to performing with and composing for her long - standing critically acclaimed trio, her duo project with pianist Alcyona Mick and the co lead sextet 'Solstice' alongside Brigitte Beraha and John Turville, Freestone features in many of the UK’s most exciting ensembles: The UK All Star Big Band with Hermeto Pascoal, the Nikki Iles Jazz Orchestra, Julian Siegel Jazz Orchestra alongside Stan Sulzmann and Jason Yarde, the London Jazz Orchestra (where she holds the Tenor One chair), Huw Warren’s new ‘Choro’ project, Rick Simpon’s Kid A revisited and has featured on albums including Ivo Neame’s Quintet/Octet featuring Jim Hart, Andre Canniere’s Sextet with bassist Michael Janisch and US drummer Ted Poor, Rory Simmons, Neil Yates’ ‘Surroundings’ alongside Iain Ballamy, the Asaf Sirkis Quartet, 'Compassionate Dictatorship' and Cuban group 'Orquesta Timbala'.

She has performed alongside musicians such as Norma Winstone, Dave Holland, Nikki Iles, Jasper Hoiby, Jamie Cullum and Andy Sheppard to name a few. Performances include the Cheltenham, Brecon, North Sea, Haskovo (Bulgaria), Elb, Sudtirol, Leibnitz, La Laguna (Spain) Jazz festivals, the Bimhuis, Ronnie Scott’s, La Zorro y El Cuervo (Cuba), DB museum (Nuremberg) plus tours of the UK, Canary Islands, Portugal, Norway, Germany and Austria and recordings and interviews for Jazz FM, BBC Radio 3, Radio 2, Loop, Edition, Whirlwind Recordings, ORF (Austria national, radio), Radio Bremen (Germany) and Jazz Canarias (Spain).

She leads her own trio and their debut album ‘In the Chophouse’ (2014) and second album ‘El Barranco’ (2016) both attracted wide acclaim in the UK and abroad. ATori composed a commission for the trio for the 2014 EFG London Jazz Festival which was performed at the QEH supporting Henri Texier.  In 2017 she was shortlisted for the Arts Foundation Award for Jazz Composition and the Parliamentary Jazz Awards for Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year. She was commissioned to write for a dectet, 'Interchange', which had its premiere in 2017 at the Scarborough Jazz Festival. A third trio album in 2019 ‘El Mar de Nubes’ was given jazz album of the month in the Guardian.

As well as leading her trio, she has performed with pianist Alcyona Mick as a co led duo since their debut at Manchester Jazz Festival in 2015 appearing at festivals and venues in the UK, Spain, Luxembourg and Germany. They recorded their debut duo album at Artesuono studios in Italy in Autumn 2017 and the album was released on the Transatlantic label of the moment 'Whirlwind Recordings'' in spring 2018 coinciding with an 18 date tour of the UK (supported by an ACE Grant for the Arts) featuring  concerts at Birmingham Symphony Hall, Pizza Express Dean Street, numerous UK festivals plus festivals/venues/radio in Germany.  They received the Help Musicians DID and record and release awards in lockdown 2020 culminating in their new release ‘Make One Little Room an Everywhere’ which is receiving wide critical acclaim in the UK and Europe and the premiere of a track written by Tori at the Royal Albert Hall in the 2021 London Jazz Festival resulted in an Ivor Novello Award. The duo have recently toured the UK and Germany.

As an educator she has performed workshops for the Royal Academy of Music, Royal Welsh College of Music, Birmingham Conservatoire, Leeds College of Music, Kingston University, Falmouth University, Truro College, Bath Spa University, and has lectured at Middlesex University, Leeds Conservatoire and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.  She is a visiting professor for Leeds Conservatoire and visiting lecturer at the Royal Welsh College of Music and tutors regularly for the Royal Academy of Music, the National Youth Jazz Collective summer schools alongside the likes of Dave Holland, Norma Winstone and some of the UK's finest musicians and educators.

Tori’s big band works together with those of Alcyona Mick’s featuring some of the music from their new album was played by Leeds Conservatoire’s Contemporary Jazz Orchestra in Dec 2024 and they regularly write big band works for the London Jazz Orchestra of which they hold the piano and tenor 1 chair.

Tori is a Borgani artist (Italy) and a Help Musicians UK supported artist. For more information please get in contact here

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