Tori Freestone is a British saxophonist, flautist and violinist 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,, the sextet Solstice with Brigitte Beraha and John Turville , and her new duo project with pianist Alcyona Mick, Freestone features in many of the UK’s most exciting ensembles: The UK All Star Big Band with Hermeto Pascoal, the Julian Siegel Jazz Orchestra alongside Stan Sulzmann and Jason Yarde, the London Jazz Orchestra (where she holds the Tenor 1 chair), Ivo Neame’s Quintet/Octet featuring Jim Hart, Andre Canniere’s Sextet with bassist Michael Janisch and drummer Ted Poor, Alec Dankworth’s Spanish Accents featuring guitarist Phil Robson, 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, 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, Whirlwind Recordings and ORF (Austria national radio ).

She leads her own trio and the albums In the Chophouse (2014) and El Barranco (2016, both released on Whirlwind Recordings) attracted wide acclaim in the international press.  Tori 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 it’s premiere in 2017 at the Scarborough Jazz Festival.

As well as leading her trio, she has performed with pianist Alcyona Mick as a co-led duo for the last three years, appearing at festivals and venues in t he UK, Spain and Germany. They recorded their debut duo album Criss Cross (Whirlwind) at Artesuono studios in Italy in Autumn 2017 and the album was released in spring 2018 coinciding with an 18 date tour of the UK and Mainland Europe.

As an educator she has performed workshops for the Welsh College of Music, Kingston University, Falmouth University and Truro College, and has lectured at Middlesex University, Leeds College of Music.  She is currently a tutor for the National Youth Jazz Collective running workshops and tutoring on summer schools alongside the likes of Dave Holland and some of the UK’s finest musicians and educators and tutors ensembles at Trinity College of Music.