Listen & tracks

2 of 10 tracks have a preview · 10 works · 55:43

1 Funkin' Boogster Martha Baartz 4:51
2 The Big Ballad Lliam Freeman 7:04
3 Favourite Secret Lliam Freeman 6:10
4 Tango for Chad Martha Baartz 5:58
5 Blues for Flippy Lliam Freeman 5:08
6 Byron Glow Martha Baartz 6:16
7 In a Fridge Lliam Freeman 5:27
8 Soul Fire Martha Baartz 5:22
9 Scrumptious Martha Baartz 4:15
10 Lost in Time Lliam Freeman 5:12

In 2001 the Baartz Freeman Sextet were invited by the ABC under the auspices of Jim McLeod’s Jazztracks program to record their music with resident ABC engineer Mal Stanley. The result: Southeast, a CD of diverse music that combines numerous musical influences from West Africa to New Orleans to Cuba and New York – music that is open, rich and generous and allows a broad scope for musical statement and improvisation by the fine musicians involved.

Headed by saxophonist Martha Baartz and co-composer guitarist Lliam Freeman, the Baartz Freeman Sextet’s Southeast is original, accessible, contemporary and eminently listenable music.

In the artist’s words

The music we play, write and listen to always seems to be nudging and winking … reflecting back and reminding us of our own humanity … we both have a sense that music should in some way be about bringing people together and allowing them to feel good … but should also be about shifting people’s perceptions of themselves and the world they live in just that little bit.

— Martha Baartz and Lliam Freeman

Reviews

From hard-driving funk to evocative ballad, from blues to Latin to tango ... fastidious and edgy but playful and fun too ... full of emotion ... ★★★½

— Leon Gettler, The Age - Green Guide

the album's major asset is the variety of moods established by the two leaders' compositions. These include the exuberance of Funkin' Boogster, the intimacy of Favourite Secret, the mellow vibe of Byron Glow and the drama of Tango for Chad.

— Adrian Jackson, The Bulletin

the range [of jazz] is extraordinary. A sizable stretch of it is covered [here] ... funk, for instance gives way to the elegiac ... seriousness is ... punctuated with a chirpy tango ... they swing through a blues ... and push into more vigorous terrain with rippling electric guitar ... and bustling saxophone.

— John Shand, ABC 24 Hours