Sounds like…

Late night jazz sessions

The review

‘Memory Streams’ was a fantastic album from Portico Quartet in the latter end of 2019. Their brand of epic jazz with tune percussion really sparked a lot of love from me in a similar way GoGo Penguin does. ‘We Welcome Tomorrow’ is a three-track EP taken from the same time period and recording sessions as that album. It is a chilled and subdued affair but fans of the band will do well to pick it up.

Each of the three tracks follow the usual Portico Quartet manner. A slow, painstakingly subtle build up of instruments that over time reveals a melody or a triumphant feeling. The title track and ‘Mirage’ buck the trend slightly by staying subdued and dusk hued throughout. These tracks definitely take place after sunset. The bigger ensemble is saved for the six minute ‘Winding Snake’ that returns to a more pacier jazz effort that builds up over time. Strings, piano, drums, brass and bass all collide together although the absence of pan drums is noticed. These tracks likely won’t be among your favourites of the band nor perhaps the era but they are great palette cleansers that sit at the different ends of the bands musical spectrum.

‘We Welcome Tomorrow’ is very much for the fans only. It’s not a wise place to start but fans will lap it up. If you are looking for some monumental jazz fusion – the album ‘Memory Streams’ is superb and I recommend starting there first and then picking this up to compliment it afterwards.

Recommended track: Mirage

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