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Reviews of Sophie Bancroft's new CD 'Handwritten'
SUNDAY HERALD
"The female element in the Bancroft clan, (brothers Tom and Phil are, respectively, drummer and saxophonist) turns her family jazz influence down low on her latest album, allowing folk, blues and contemporary singer-songwriter styles to weave inside her compositions. As the title suggests, this is a more personalised affair than any number of polished Norah Jones or Beth Rowley productions; recorded in Bancroft's sitting room in Pathhead, just outside Edinburgh, the album recruits the talents of Bancroft's husband, bassist Tom Lyne and neighbours Martin Green (accordion) and Amy Geddes (fiddle). The occasional foreign flavour of a Parisian cafe or Gypsy wedding adds colour to the songs, but it's the velvet-draped voice of Bancroft herself that wafts through the set like a warm breeze. Lyrically too she is on good form, taking on the body fascists with I Would Rather Be Me and adding to a noble heritage of naughty blues lines with Won't Be You: "Who's gonna check my oil/Now that you've gone and done the dirty on me?"
THE HERALD
"More than almost any artist in the winsome nouveau folk sphere of current fashionability, there is something utterly disarming about the transparency and straightforwardness of jazz singer Sophie Bancroft. It seems like she would not know irony if it came down from its web and sat down beside her. Has there ever been a more domestic break-up song than the opener, Won't Be You, or a simpler contribution to the size zero debate than I Would Rather Be Me? The fruits of her time in the Burnsong woodshed are among the highlights, with Geoff Martyn helping out on Always Ever After and Davie Scott co-writing the best track, Clumsy, which has graced a Pearlfishers' B-side"
FATEA
"Having enjoyed Sophie Bancroft's previous cut, I was really pleased when her new album, "Handwritten", popped through the letterbox and onto the office mat. There is a cheekiness and a hint of a Gallic shrug to Ms Bancroft's light jazz style. Her songs tend towards the observational often with a wry sense of perspective. "Won't Be You" sees an unfaithful partner sent on their way, but who's now going to service the car and walk the dog? Populated with people and places, including a memorial song to the much missed Martyn Bennett. Like chasing butterflies on a summer's day."
Review of gig at The Tron, Glasgow July 2008, THE HERALD (4 stars)
Bancroft is a vocalist and songwriter who has really come into her own in recent years. Showcasing tunes from her new album, she revealed how far she's travelled, and her performance, imbued with warmth and humour, was delightful.
Reviews of CD Hot And Cold' (LISALEO 0401)
THE OBSERVER 3 July 2005
Along with its remarkable flowering of instrumental jazz, Scotland now has some fascinating vocalists. This elegant and meticulously produced CD inhabits the border territory between jazz and folk-country-pop, which suits Sophie Bancroft's cool, rather ethereal voice to perfection. She also writes songs with touchingly earnest lyrics and attractive tunes. Easy To See' has a quite gorgeous, Celic-tinged melody, while Butterfly' is a kind of Scottish bossa nove. It's impossible to separate the stylistic elements, although jazz predominates, especially in the very sharp acoompaniment. This includes Dave Milliagan (who plays so brilliantly on Colin Steele's new CD reviewed here recently) and Sophie's saxophonist brother, Phil Bancroft.
Coming as she does from one of Scotland's musical dynasties, Sophie Bancroft has been exposed to music for as long she can remember, and the wide exposure over a period of time shows in the maturity, complete authority and confidence she brings to this her third outing as a solo artist.
Wary of catagorisation for it's own sake, but necessary to give an indication where Sophie sits musically, it is perhaps fair to say that as well as jazz buffs she will also appeal to the adult oriented pop market. Not that I would wish to say that Bancroft is from the same stable as say Norah Jones, but she does manage to inhabit that undefineable gray area between genres that can sometime alienate the diehards but have a general wider appeal.
Sophie is without a doubt a jazz singer, but to this brings via her own song-writing talents influences from the world of pop and country. She has a light a clear delivery that is immediately appealing, and has a knack of writing a catchy melody that she is able to arrange in a way that keeps the interest not just for the listener, but also the first class band that she has retained for the last couple of years.
Bass playing husband, Tom Lyne, along with drummer Donalds Hay, brings a solid yet flexible rhythm to proceedings whilst Dave Milligan's work at the piano brings out the subtle harmonies inherent in Sophie's compositions. Coupled with guitarist, Sandy Wright who is resposnible for all the guitar solo that at times really lift set, and Bancroft's own contributions on acoustic guitar, there is a lot more going on than is apparent on first hearing.
As fine as her previous two albums are, this is the best to date, with stand out tracks 'Cruel Or Just Kind', 'Butterfly' and the title track. Do yourself a favour and make sure that you do not overlook a young lady who is continuing to develop her personal sound and style that bodes well for the future.
THE BIG ISSUE 17 th November 2005
Scotland is full of angels and demons. Some music is clearly from the bowels
of Beelzebub and some is clearly inspired by angels. Sophie Bancroft from
Edinburgh is the latter. Her voice is heavenly. She could sing about opening
a bag of crisps and it would feel spiritually uplifting.
With her new lo-fi jazz album, Hot and Cold, Sophie does the impossible. She
makes jazz accessible and reaches people who wouldn't normally touch jazz
with a barge pole. The title track on Hot and Cold is one of the many
effortless tunes on a blissful album that has elements of Billie Holiday,
Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald.
Play it on your way out and let it rescue you from the ceiling when you get
home.
This album is hip, cool and simply beautiful.
Reviews of CD Modern Love' (LISALEO 0301)
SUNDAY HERALD 18 January 2004
Although born into one of Scotland's leading jazz dynasties, Sophie Bancroft has also pursued her muse in the directions of pop, folk and electronic music and, in the best possible way, her diverse taste shows.
Her new solo CD is a dynamic mix of these and many other styles, including soul, funk, dance music and chanson, sewn together by the wayward, arresting trajectories of her elastic, creamy voice.
Echoes along the way range from Peggy Lee to Joan Armatrading, Alison Krauss to BjÖrk, in a a boldly achieved balance of the classic and the contemporary.
The sister of brothers Tom and Phil who are making waves with and on the Caber label north of the border, Sophie Bancroft has an impressive CV that covers jazz, pop and folk. She draws on all these diverse skills, weaving them through a captivatingly moody set of songs just right for staring out of the window on a rainy day.
One of the great problems a jazz singer faces is the weight of tradition (Ella, Billie, Sarah, Carmen, Betty) and being boxed into a corner by the standards repertoire. As soon as you sing Gershwin or Kern or Rogers and Hart you are immediately in competition with the past, which is great if that's what you want to do. There's a whole nouveau school of jazz singers emerging doing just that and audiences are apparently clamouring for more. But standards tend to swallow a singer's individuality whole because they plug into a range of audience expectations that have to be met. Originality is hard to find, craftsmanship is what audiences want the good old songs sang the same old way.
The way to get around this road block is to write your own material. Since the rise of singer songwriter in pop this seems an obvious route to take, but few have. But by doing so you create your own scene, play by your own rules and that's what Sophie Bancroft has done, and it works.
Comparisons are odious , but if they are to be made, it's because that's the way our brains work. When someone we haven't heard comes along we need to compare it to what we know, so we can form an opinion about it. So think Eva Cassidy and the easy, folksy grooves she gets. That's what Bancroft is into here Modern love' and And The Rain'. There's an openness and transparency in her songs that communicate, and after all, that's what it's all about.
REVIEWS OF SPYLAB featuring Sophie Bancroft CD This Utopia, released on Guidance Records,
PERFORMANCE REVIEWS
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