Charlie Beresford: Acoustic guitar/piano/voice
Sonia Hammond: Cello
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Since their first album release in 2014 ‘The Science of Snow’ Beresford Hammond have continued to, in the words of Ian Mann, “bring true beauty to the art of free improvisation, once again producing an intimate, accessible and strangely beautiful album to both intrigue and beguile the listener. The filmic quality of the work is very much rooted in the restless beauty, and at times unforgiving nature, of the Welsh Marches where they are both based.”
Over the last decade they have taken their unique and lyrical approach to improvisation to venues as varied as Cafe Oto in London, through to the Schwartzberg in Vienna via Jazzaj in Budapest, also taking in a number of atmospheric churches and venues throughout the UK along the way. Since 2014 along side their afore mentioned debut ‘The Science of Snow’ (2014), they have released a further two duo records ‘Each Edge of the Field’ (2017) and ‘Circle Inside the Folds’ (2019). In 2016 they were joined by Carolyn Hume to make the Beresford Hammond Hume trio record ‘The Lightning Bell’ which also contained performances by singer Judie Tzuke.
Charlie Beresford
His musical CV has covered a lot of ground. He is a founding member of Fourth Page alongside Carolyn Hume (piano) and Paul May (drums), and part of the trio Bashford Harries Beresford with James Bashford (drums) and Tim harries (bass and keyboards). With the viola player Wei-Ya Lin and pianist Alen Ilijic they formed the Vienna based music collective ‘The Loving Observer’. They recently recorded their first album with the Austrian trumpet player Franz Hautzinger. Charlie forms the other half of a number of duos along side French composer Christian Vasseur, Beresford Hammond with Sonia Hammond (cello) and Beresford Harries with Tim Harries (double bass). His solo work has been licensed in America to companies such as MTV (east and west coast) and Oxygen In his other life as a visual artist he founded ‘The 52nd’ project with Quebec based art photographer/filmaker Gaëna Da Sylva. Which later spawned The 52nd record label.
Sonia Hammond
Having graduated from the Birmingham School of Music with a B.A. Hons First Class Degree in Performing and ABRSM Diplomas in Teaching, Performing and Recital all with distinction Sonia Hammond (nee Oakes) completed Post Graduate studies at the Royal College of Music. She has since forged an eclectic freelance career from recording with Chloe Goodchild, Barb Jungr, Babysnakes, Ennui and Philip Kane to playing in venues ranging from the rooftops of Timbuktu, the great rift valley in Kenya , the Lotte concert hall in Seoul with the London Cello Orchestra to the Camphill Communities of UK and Europe. She is currently principal cellist of both the Brecknock and St Woolos Sinfonias and plays regularly with Castalia String Quartet, Deborah Rose and Charlie Beresford.
“We must hope that the duo repeat their winning formula again soon. This stuff could very easily become habit-forming.”
John Eyles All About Jazz (4.5 stars out of 5)
‘This is a beguiling album, rich in emotional inflexions. Its mimetic melancholy is offset both by the immediacy of the performance and its poetry. It is really quite beautiful.’
Tim Owen Dalston Sound
“a prime example of pure creativity.”
The Musician (album was stand out for the issue)
“It’s the science of snow, its rarely recurring forms, its logic-defying crystal building and eventual sublimation that this music attempts to convey. This stuff comes from a border country and a border state.”
Brian Morton The Wire