Duncan, Milo, Nick and Jack - aka Portico Quartet - are living the dream: record label, sold-out gigs, hoards of screaming female fans…. But they are a far cry from the ubiquitous skinny-jeans-wearing, Pete Doherty-doting boy band. Instead, Portico Quartet are a 4-piece modern jazz group from London, and after nearly two years playing small gigs and busking outside the National Theatre in London, they recently signed a deal with Babel records; on November 5th released their debut album, ‘Knee-Deep in the North Sea’, to what should be a barrage of critical and popular acclaim.

Young, talented and aesthetically pleasing, their music is made distinctive by the use of the ‘hang’, a 21st century percussion instrument used on all their tracks. By “forging contemporary jazz with modern classical tendencies along with many other genres” (their own words), they have created an inimitable sound that has been compared to the work of Ben Allison, Esbjorn Svennson Trio and The Cinematic Orchestra, among others.

Confused? Don’t be. On behalf of jazz novices everywhere – modern or otherwise – we squeezed into the unlikely but atmospherically apt venue of the St Barnabas Chapel in Soho for their official album launch. Thanks to the most modern of marketing tools – a bit of myspace, a little word of mouth, and friend-of-a-friend recommendations – the venue was packed. Devoted followers jostled for space with first-time fans like ourselves, while late-comers queued outside hoping to replace the fainting girls being carried out on stretchers. (Ok not quite but you get the picture.)

There’s an improvisational quality to their tracks, but their slickness and beat-perfect delivery belie their professionalism and practice, and the water tight set of ethereal, jazzy, percussiony, melodic tracks from the album didn’t disappoint. Such crowd pleasers as ‘Pompidou’, composed while busking outside the Centre of the same name in Paris, had the audience in otherworldly suspense and the encore was almost literally a religious experience.

When they’re not signing record deals, releasing albums, playing to packed crowds and signing autographs for female fans, Portico Quartet mostly spend their time “making music and painting”. Catch them doing the former at the London Jazz Festival in the Purcell Rooms on November 24th, the Ritzy Cinema Café in Brixton on December 16th, or the Brunei Gallery at SOAS on January 9th, and brush up your knowledge before you go. Check out the launch of their album at the Barnabas Chapel a few weeks ago.
Invite us round for breakfast boys…

AA