Portico Quartet

Featuring: Jack Wyllie – soprano and alto saxophone, Duncan Bellamy – drums, Milo Fitzpatrick – double bass, Keir Vine – hang, percussion

The sound of the Portico Quartet, a foursome from London and Southampton, is distinguished by the use of the hang, an instrument belonging to the idiophone class of instruments, which although closely resembling a gamelan gong or perhaps even a steelpan, is in reality not an organic instrument, but rather a UFO-shaped invention by a Swiss company. (Kornél Horváth is known to play this instrument locally.) The band started their career as street musicians, frequently busking in front of London’s National Theatre, and were subsequently invited to record an album in 2007. This was soon followed by a performance at the London Jazz Festival, where pianist Michiel Borstlap and drummer Bill Bruford joined them as guest performers. The band’s name originates from an incident in Italy, when their performance was washed out by a rain storm and they were forced to play under a portico, a porch supported by columns. Their luck and success has increased significantly over the years, and they are currently one of the most popular young jazz bands in England. Their music is naturally not considered traditional jazz, but rather a fusion of indie music in which expertly timed grooves are intensified in repetitive fashion until ecstatic levels are reached. The London-based Time Out magazine voted their debut album Knee-deep in the North Sea Jazz Album of the Year in 2007, while the quartet was nominated for the Mercury Prize the following year.

Presented by: Palace of Arts