THE MARTIN SPEAKE GROUP has been in existence for over ten years.

The music is composed by Martin and draws on all his experiences and influences. This includes the jazz tradition of America and Europe, folk music from around the world, free improvisation and classical music.

His music has an inherently melodic quality and each musician's contribution is strikingly individual yet subordinate to the collective sound.

Mike Outram (Guitar) Tom Herbert (Double Bass) and Tom Skinner (Drums) along with Martin Speake (Alto Saxophone) make up the current group.

As individuals they have collaborated with many leading musicians including: Paul Motian, Django Bates, Kenny Wheeler, Iain Ballamy, Stan Tracey, Andy Sheppard, Mike Gibbs, Jazz Warriors, Lee Konitz, Bob Wilber, Don Weller, Ronnie Scott, Conrad Herwig, Tony Coe, Phil Lee, John Taylor, Jim Mullen, Julian Arguelles, Christine Tobin, Huw Warren, Bhavani Shankar, Nikki Iles, Gerard Presencer, Bobby Wellins, Clark Tracey, Stan Sulzmann, Norma Winstone, Herbie Mann and others.

The band performs throughout Britain including appearances at Ronnie Scott's Club and BBC broadcasts. They have also toured Indonesia, Philippines, Croatia and China courtesy of the British Council. Their second CD 'Trust' was released in spring 1998 and their 3rd "Hullabaloo" in the Spring of 2002.

Martin Speake Group's Hullabaloo is their first album with Linn and features Martin Speake on alto sax, John Parricelli on guitar, Mick Hutton on bass and Tom Skinner on drums.

Tracklisting 01 Keith Jarrett 4:47 02 Waiting for You 8:46 03 The Inner Game 4:38 04 Hullabaloo 5:36 05 The Poet [For Bill Evans] 4:58 06 JT's Symmetrical Scale 4:11 07 The Bellringer 4:43 08 Arco Iris 6:54 09 Pumpkin 3:38

CD Number: AKD 191 Number of Tracks: 9 Total Time: 48:19 Date of Release: 2002 Label Name: Linn

"Alto saxophonist Martin Speake again exhibits the cool lucidity and invention which has been the hallmark of his playing since he first emerged on the London jazz scene in the mid-1980s. That coolness does not imply any lack of musical expression, however, and he finds a sympathetic response from his collaborators in his current quartet - guitarist John Parricelli, bassist Mick Hutton and drummer Tom Skinner. The choice of guitar rather than piano gives the music an airy, lightly textured feel, and the saxophonist balances the omission of piano by dedicating three of his nine compositions to pianists". Kenny Mathieson, The Scotsman Biography

TRUST This album features Martin Speake on alto saxophone John Parricelli on guitar, Steve Watts on double bass, Steve Arguelles on drums and percussion. Recorded in December 1996 at the Royal Academy of Music.

33Records 33JAZZ 035 CD

TRACKS ARE: Golden Rooster, The Heron, Magic Show, In Our Time, The Accidental Flamboyant, Notebook, We Three, Fever Pitch, Bouncy,Lullaby,(for Rebecca) TOTAL PLAY TIME 52.32 MINS

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More Press Quotes

"A new album from the same quartet that made "In Our Time" (The Jazz Label) and if I'm not mistaken, this is even better. Altoist Speake is good at composing tunes that have unobvious but memorable hooks, and his improvising has the same quality balanced with an enviable facility - the 7/8 "Fever Pitch" is a good demonstration. Use of the guitar is much influenced by recent Scofield groups, but John Parricelli gets to a lot of different places, such as the semi-acoustic sound of "Bouncy" and his Ornette imitations on "Magic Show". The Steves, Watts and Arguelles are of course crucial to the whole venture".

JAZZWISE

"Alto saxophonist Martin Speake has a personality, which shines through on this CD of his, 'melody based' compositions. In fact all the musicians involved here have strong musical identities. There are shades of Paul Desmond, Joe Lovano and in particular, Ornette Coleman. Magic Show an Ornette-ish theme leads to some nice interplay between Martin and John Parricelli. The Heron is very haunting; Parricelli as always plays for the band, but solos in a colourful and exciting way. His acoustic guitar on Fever Pitch (with its Eastern European overtones) is very effective. Steve Arguelles makes his unmistakable mark. His pre be-bop jazz roots are felt strongly on Bouncy an old time blues and one The Accidental Flamboyant based around All The Things…. The essential Steve Watts has a great unifying effect on the music, however, for me he would have been louder in the mix. There are a lot of little gems to be discovered here. No pyrotechnics just good music".

STAN SULZMANN MUSICIAN MAGAZINE

"Emerging from a young generation of British improvisers, which includes this date's marvellous drummer Steve Arguelles, Speake is an altoist interested in what can only be called post-Ornette music. He and guitarist Parricelli play a post-modern Coleman and Cherry on tracks like "Golden Rooster", "Magic Show" and "Bouncy". Each of these themes overflows with catchiness, with the melody players providing all sorts of colour and the rhythm players adding subtle emphases. The writing is accessible but also conducive to nuance and expression. Thankfully, all the band members are capable of and eager to do just this. They are able to shift voice with the sections of the compositions, so that Speake's playing in particular can sound like both mainstreamers and more outside players. The latter of which is most apparent in his free duet with Parricelli in the middle section of " Magic Show". Parricelli is possessed of the same sonic split personality, sounding at once like Bill Frisell with his volume swells on "The Heron", or Jim Hall on the lovely "Lullaby (for Rebecca)". In fact, one of this group's strengths is its ability to upend convention (again the Ornette legacy), particularly in terms of instrumental hierarchy. Just check out "The Heron", where Speake and Watts provide rhythm for Parricelli and Arguelles. They also investigate Charlie Haden territory in the serene ballad "Fever Pitch", which eventually takes off at a whirling dervish clip. And they seduce the listener with the gently descending triplets of "We Three", which has an almost aqueous feel to it. Perhaps finest of all is the Speake/ Arguelles duet that opens "The Accidental Flamboyant". Arguelles works all the spaces of his kit, and Speake does likewise on his horn. A fitting high point to this rewarding session. Anyone interested in seeing how the harmolodic tradition has been appropriated and extended should dig in".

CADENCE MAGAZINE

"An alto saxophonist who sounds only like himself."

Dave Gelly - The Observer

"A saxophonist with an unusual turn of phrase, a persuasively gentle sound and jazz allegiances that don't follow the usual Coltranesque paths but veer instead toward the fifties Cool School, Martin Speake is not just a distinctive improviser but a striking composer too. Superficially, Speake can sometimes seem cool to the point of chilliness - but like his original inspirations, the heat is all in the logic and integrity of the lines, the balance of mind and heart."

John Fordham - The Guardian

"Think of Chet Baker, Lee Konitz, Jimmy Giuffre, or our own Bobby Wellins, Tony Coe or Martin Speake - all Emily Dickinson lyric poets."

Phil Johnson - The Independent

"Speake's saxophone sound is a haunting mixture of fragile, silvery high-register playing and a plush, flugelhorn-like mid-range, and his momentum has an unswerving resolution of tempo. In these respects he resembles a Fifties Cool School improviser, but his phrasing represents a far more contemporary chemistry of long zigzagging lines and unexpected resolutions."

John Fordham - The Guardian