The music on this page is from the album 'Coup d'Etat' by Compassionate Dictatorship' released on FMR in 2007. The album's available to buy on our website or on FMR's website. The 'Dictatorship' have recently recorded a second album and are in the processes of finalising a jazz services sponsored tour for early 2009. Tour dates up on this page or you can go to the website for more details
The Dictatorship was born out of the collaboration between Jez Franks and Tori Freestone who have been playing, writing and coercing since 1993. They joined forces with fellow provocateurs Comrade Jasper Hoiby and Citizen Ben Reynolds, and have been on a mission to deliver their manifesto to the proletariat with the release of their debut album 'Coup d'Etat' and a jazz services sponsored tour in 2007-8 .
Here are some quotes about the album and some of the gigs:
"The musical rapport between electric guitarist Jez Franks and tenor saxophonist Tori Freestone is… the spark that ignites the bright, driving, sophisticated music of Compassionate Dictatorship, Their material .. occupies musical territory roughly similar to the terrain in which one of the guitarist’s chief influences, Kurt Rosenwinkel, operates: a brisk, bustling yet subtle blend of prog rock and fleet jazz…Franks is a fluent but punchy player, supple, long-lined solos streaming from his guitars..Freestone a pleasingly circumspect but powerful and cogent saxophonist, and the blend of their sounds (cf. the Lovano-Scofield 1990s partnership, or the present-day fruitful collaboration between Phil Robson and Julian Siegel) is the band’s most attractive characteristic; with Hoiby and Reynolds providing vibrant and responsive rhythm-section work, this is a muscular but intelligent band playing immediately accessible, spirited yet carefully wrought music."
Chris Parker, Vortex gig review, September 2008
"….??t??eta ? p??? d???eµ???? ?a? s?f?st??? ???? t???, ???e?ta? µeta?? ?a??t ?a? p?st-µp?p, µe??d???? µpa???ta? ?a? f???? ???µ??, ??µ????ta? s???? t??? Underground t?? Chris Potter. ?a pe??ss?te?a ??µµ?t?a ?e?????? µe ?a?a?? ???µ? ?a? a???? atµ?sfa?????? µe??d???? f??se??. S??? s??? ? ??tas? a?eßa??e? ?a??? ? ???µ?? ???eta? ?????ß?, e?? ? ?????a t?? Franks ????te µe ?a?a?? ???, ????te ??e?t??sµ??? ?a? st? “Brain Pickle†µe wah-wah, e?te s????e? µe e???µat???t?ta, e?te sp????e? t? te???? t?? Freestone se e?e??e?? f?s?µa…"
Jazz & Tzaz (www.jazzntzaz.gr), Vangelis Aragiannis March 2008
A gusty but thoughtful quartet album, Coup D’Etat is a notable addition to the ever-growing quality shown by forward thinking Brit Jazz groups….Compassionate Dictatorship …makes for a very impressive listen, both through the improvisation and loose, at times free-ish, group dynamics… he group stretch and improvises loosely over delightfully open grooves …Musically both tough and tender, Franks and Freestone are a great partnership.
- Jazzwise magazine, Dec 2007
"An eclectic amalgam of improvisation, strong melodic themes and rhythmic twists is perhaps the best way to characterize 'Coup d'Etat', the debut album by ‘Compassionate Dictatorship…Jez Franks (guitar), Tori Freestone (sax), Jasper Hoiby (bass) and Ben Raynolds (drums) manage to achieve a cohesive group sound that still allows each member’s original voice to be heard..Rooted in the language of ‘modern jazz’ composers such as Chris Potter, Kurt Rosenwinkel et al, Jez Franks and Tori Freestone write with a fresh, vital and explorative approach. Whilst the pieces are often complex, they never feel contrived or overwritten. This is due to the effortless way in which they are performed by the composers’…Each member of ‘Compassionate Dictatorship’ has their own unique improvisatory identity; far from the clash one might expect, the four voices complement each other well. This is especially true of Franks and Freestone who are both listening and reacting to each other; the resulting interweaving melodic lines are a high point of the album."
Allaboutjazz.com, Nov 2007
"this new band is another vital example of UK musicians embracing and incorporating both free jazz and rock elements into an edgy, risk taking approach to their music....original compositions of haunting beauty, using atmospheric textures over bubbling grooves.."
- Jazzwise.com Oct 2007
You can buy the album now right here!
(postage included within EEC)