THE BAND

Coming from a background strongly connected to jazz music, SB is surrounded by singer-songwriters from the indie world, folk musicians and hard core traditional musicians, all of which affect her writing and performance.
Described as gorgeous, refreshing acoustic music, the Sophie Bancroft Band takes listeners on a journey through life's cameos, wrapped in Sophie's velvet-draped voice, her intimate guitar and stunning band, who seamlessly blend the jazz influence with contemporary folk, featuring double bassist Tom Lyne, fiddler Amy Geddes and guitarist/percussionist Ross Mitson.
"Weaving a tapestry of songs over the course of two hours, her smooth and smoky voice lifts above the mellowed beat of the music, washing over the audience, leaving them transfixed. Her eclectic mix of jazz, country, blues and folky rock, creates a sound that will appeal to everyone for years to come" THREEWEEKS.CO.UK
"Bird Of Paradise" is her fifth album, and she's accompanied by her husband (and double bassist) Tom Lyne, fiddler Amy Geddes and guitarist / percussionist Ross Mitson. Though very much a songwriter's collection, it's performed very much in a folk style. This is partly down to the purity of Bancroft's voice, but also the unfussy arrangements and the subject matter of the songs, which involve themselves in the day-to-day lives of ordinary people. LEICESTER BANGS

A Scottish folkster with a jazz family background, Bancroft's explored both fields in her previous albums, not to mention experimenting with electronica. There's jazz blues flavours here on the musically flirty Occasional China where she slips into scat backed by Amy Geddes providing gypsy fiddle, the breathy No Smokin with a percussion rhythm that sounds like the bellows of an electronic lung, and the skittish Dented with Tom Lyne's double bass groove. NETRHYTHM

"Bancroft grew up in a family where many were busy with jazz and folk music. Her music blends both, but jazz is clearly her main ingredient. Although a song like Streets of summer shows she knows her way around the folky style as well. This album contains eleven original songs, all a poetic reflection of her memories and thoughts. Bancroft has a nice, warm voice and backed by bass, violin and guitar/percussion she creates an intimate musical world. Nice how a jazz singer uses folk influences to create her own, unique style. I know it's her forth release already, but the first one that I heard and I love it." FOLKWORLD