Portico Quartet

Led by drummer/composer and producer Duncan Bellamy and saxophonist/composer and producer Jack Wyllie, Portico Quartet have defied categorisation over the course of seven studio albums.

From their 2007 Mercury Music Prize nominated breakthrough ‘Knee-Deep in the North Sea’ through to the longform minimalist inspired ‘Terrain’ and the electronica heavy Monument, both released in 2021.

In 2022 they recorded an extended version of Terrain live in Abbey Road Studio One with an expanded line-up featuring a string quartet taking the band firmly into more classical and modern ambient spaces.

Originally formed in 2005 by two groups of childhood friends from Southampton, and Cambridge they met while studying at university in London and initially honed their style by busking regularly outside the National Theatre on London’s Southbank.

Their debut album, Knee-Deep in the North Sea, was nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize and was Time Out’s Jazz, Folk and World music album of the year 2007 and their music continues to grow and evolve with each release, drawing on jazz, ambient and classical influences in equal measure to create their own unique form of widescreen minimalism that has influenced artists such as Hania Rani and Bononbo.

In addition to their work with Portico Quartet they also pursue other collaborations such as Bellamy’s collaborations with Hania Rani on her recent album Ghosts and his project with poet Belinda Zhawi and Wyllie in his collaborative bands Forgiveness and Szun Waves as well as his solo work under the name Paradise Cinema.