When London jazz club The Vortex first opened its doors to the public, members of Portico Quartet hadn't even started school. Now 20 years on the college graduates are the first signing to the new Vortex label.
Remarkably refreshing and difficult to pinpoint, Portico Quartet have been compared to Ben Allison, Esbjorn Svennson Trio and The Cinematic Orchestra. Blurring contemporary jazz with modern classical tendencies, their approach gives a nod to the work of Steve Reich and Philip Glass, whilst their melodic rhythms are reminiscent of Penguin Café Orchestra.
The inspiration for Basquiat Strings came from the raucous rhythmically driving traditional Hungarian string groups of Transylvania, the luxuriously rich Brahms sextets, and the wild, at times, unruly compositions and workshop arrangements of Charles Mingus.
