Tori Freestone

Tori regularly works with various Large ensembles including the London Jazz Orchestra performing with them at many of their Vortex Sunday sessions, the Julian Siegel Big Band with an album release/tour In 2022/23, the award winning Nikki Iles Jazz Orchestra with upcoming 2023/24 tour dates, Pete Hurt Big Band with an album released in December 2015, as well as performances with Big Bands that have been drawn together specially for commissions and festivals such as the Hermeto Pascoal and the all star UK Big Band at the Barbican in 2016, the Leeds College of Music Alumni Big Band under the direction of Nikki Isles (for the 50th anniversary celebrations at Leeds College of Music), Neil Yates's 'Surroundings' for the 2011 Manchester Jazz Festival and E17 Large Ensemble on a project/commission with Liam Noble.

HERMETO PASCOAL AND ALL STAR UK BIG BAND

Tori performed on 9 July 2016 at the Barbican as part of Composer, bandleader, multi-instrumentalist and improviser Hermeto Pascoal's all-star British ensemble led by Noel Langley in celebration of his 80th birthday year (see the full line-up below).

With an enormous musical imagination, Pascoal has no sense of musical barriers. His genre-hopping performances see him embrace orchestral music, Latin jazz, Brazilian music, rock and free improvisation – often within the same piece. And he changes instruments just as much, jumping between keyboard, accordion and saxophone. But his eccentric musicianship doesn’t limit him to conventional instruments – previous performances have seen him make music out of everything from a kettle, pints of beer and even a live pig.

For this show, his free-wheeling touring band is augmented by a specially assembled big band that brings together successive generations from the UK’s Jazz scene

Performers:
Henry Lowther trumpet
Chris Batchelor trumpet
George Hogg trumpet
Tom Rees-Roberts trumpet
Becca Toft trumpet
Pete Beachill trombone
Richard Wigley trombone
Sarah Williams trombone
Richard Henry trombone
Owen Dawson trombone
Phil Todd saxophone
Jason Yarde saxophone
Tori Freestone saxophone
Chris Biscoe saxophone
Julian Siegel saxophone
Stuart Hall guitar, violin
Naadia Sheriff piano
Michael Mondesir bass
Mark Mondesir drums

LONDON JAZZ ORCHESTRA

For nearly 30 years, the LJO, under the direction of jazz composer and educator Scott Stromann has included such luminaries as founder members Kenny Wheeler, Stan Sulzmann, Pete Saberton and Ian Carr in its ranks over the years, and the presemt powerful incarnation includes the innovative drummer Paul Clarvis, bassist Alec Dankworth, alto saxophonist Martin Speake, tenor saxophonist Pete Hurt and the poised and velvet-toned British trumpeter Henry Lowther.  The music is composed and arranged by band members past and present and this music is showcased each month in the LJO’s regular Vortex Sunday sessions.  

"The LJO is a band of top-flight professionals, totally committed to the music it presents and plays. Musicans in their day-to-day lives have to strike a balance, to juggle between the need to earn money and the deep compulsion to perform music of the highest quality at the highest level. And all the points in between. The LJO is at the quality-plus-commitment end of that particular spectrum…It's similar to the motivation of the classical players who respond to Claudio Abbado's call to perform in his Lucerne Festival Orchestra. Kenny Wheeler was a founder member of the orchestra. What was fascinating about this gig was to hear the music start to move away from him. Music of this quality will inevitably start to develop its own life away from the original dedicatees” - John Fordham, The Guardian

“The London Jazz Orchestra can easily stand comparison with the original Gil Evans orchestra of 1957. The LJO play together regularly while the Evans men included a large proportion of session musicians, and LJO members have been listening to these charts for years and didn't have to stop every few minutes and start another take (you can hear the tape splices on the 1957 recordings). They did the music proud, from delicate to deafening, with a superb 5 strong trumpet section led by Noel Langley. All were clearly enjoying the music. Paul Clarvis and Alec Dankworth were free to grin delightedly - all the other musicians had the encumbramance of an instruments either to their lips or in their mouths. Oren Marshall on tuba, who had been bemoaning the lack of good tuba parts seemed to be having the time of his life as he powered the brass from below with nimble melodic lines and rich tones."  - London Jazz Blog (Vortex, November 21st 2010)

JULIAN SIEGEL BIG BAND

Tenor sax/flute in a big band directed by Julian Siegel which toured in March 2017 culminating in a live recording and tour 2023:  The lineup includes Percy Pursglove, Henry Lowther, Claus Stoetter (NDR big band), Mike Chillingworth, Jason Yarde, Stan Sulzmann, Mark Nightingale, Mike Outram, Liam Noble, Oli Hayhurst and Gene Calderazzo.

NIKKI ILES BIG BAND

Tenor Sax/flute with award winning (Ivor Novello/MBE/NDR composer in residence) pianist and composer, Nikki Iles and her 20 piece Jazz Orchestra. In 20120 they were to commence a national tour cancelled due to Covid and rescheduled in 2021/22 marking a new chapter in a long and distinguished career in British Jazz, gathering together commissions from over the years, new orchestrations of her own small band tunes and new compositions, all played by the remarkable band she had assembled. The depth and range  of the exhilarating writing and arranging suggest a seasoned hand and a distinctive voice, with the music bought to vivid life by a top drawer band. Further tour dates in 2023/24 including Ronnie Scotts and UK festivals.

Nikki Iles – Conductor, Piano, Accordion, Mike Walker – Guitar, Steve Watts – Bass, Ian Thomas – Drums 

SAXOPHONES

Andy Schofield – Alto, Soprano, Flute, Paul Jones – Alto, Flute, Julian Siegel – Tenor, Bass Clarinet, Tori Freestone – Tenor, Flute, Karen Sharp – Baritone, Tenor, Clarinet, Gareth Lochrane – Flute

TRUMPETS

Tom Walsh, Henry Lowther, James Copas, Nick Smart

TROMBONES

Gordon Campbell, Richard Henry, Ollie Martin, Harry Maund

PETE HURT BIG BAND

Tori plays soprano sax and flute in saxophonist Pete Hurt's big band which performs Pete's original compositions and skilled big band arranging.  The band features many of the core members of the London Jazz Orchestra such as saxophonist Josephine Davis (tenor), Mick Foster (baritone), Martin Hathaway (alto),  Robbie Robson, Henry Lowther   and Noel Langley (trumpets) plus Kate Williams (piano) Mick Hutton/Alec Dankworth (bass) and Jon Scott on drums.  They released an award winning album in December 2015 and regularly play in the UK.

LEEDS COLLEGE OF MUSIC ALUMNI BIG BAND

Directed by Nikki Isles, this big band was made up of alumni from the Leeds College of Music jazz course such as Andy Schofield, Rob Mullarkey and Robbie Robson culminating in a concert in the Venue in Quarry Hill, Leeds in October 2015.