PORTICO QUARTET — Knee-Deep in the North Sea (review)

PORTICO QUARTET — Knee-Deep in the North Sea album cover Album · 2007 · Nu Jazz Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
snobb
One-and-half decades after the album's original release, it is easy to say that "Knee-Deep In The North Sea" is one among genre-defining albums of English nu-jazz in the first decade of the new Millennium. Young quartet's debut album combines airiness and lightness of the genre's classic Nordic nu jazz from late 90s, adding more tunes and some meat to songs, making them sounding more British. More important - even on the English burgeoning nu jazz scene of the time, Portico Quartet were a stand-alone figure, mostly because of their use of "hangs"(or Caribbean-style tin-pans) and their music strongly influenced by renown minimalists.

Fate would have me hear Portico before the release of their debut, just a warm sunny day playing right in the Downtown square. It's catchy melodies and characteristic tin-pan sound was what attracted a lot of people to stay near and listen to their music with smiles on their faces. After repeated listens to their recordings, one can find that there are lot of influences from around the world, including from China to South Europe, and some free improvisation as well. Still, this debut album sounds quite accessible, and in the time of it's release was positively received much wider than only in jazz lover's circles. The 2011 reissue added three live tracks and offered a remixed sound.

A decade later, specific Portico early music's sound influenced all of the new generation of electronic sound adopted by nu jazzers, with their love for repetitive minimalist songs. Portico themselves, after a few releases in a similar style switched towards a more electronic sound with only partial success and nowadays still trying to find a new ground working as "two-members quartet". Their debut album however most probably will stay in history as one of most influential English early nu jazz releases.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Jazz Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

JMA TOP 5 Jazz ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
A Love Supreme Post Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
Kind of Blue Cool Jazz
MILES DAVIS
Buy this album from our partners
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Progressive Big Band
CHARLES MINGUS
Buy this album from our partners
Blue Train Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
My Favorite Things Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners

New Jazz Artists

New Jazz Releases

Jason Stein, Marilyn Crispell, Damon Smith, Adam Shead : Spi​-​raling Horn Avant-Garde Jazz
JASON STEIN
Buy this album from MMA partners
Utopia Jazz Related Improv/Composition
OLIVER LUTZ
Buy this album from MMA partners
Charlie Pyne Quartet : Nature Is A Mother Vocal Jazz
CHARLIE PYNE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Norma Winstone & Kit Downes : Outpost of Dreams Vocal Jazz
NORMA WINSTONE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Djabe & Steve Hackett : When the Sound Turns Sweet Fusion
DJABE
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

FULL ALBUM - Oliver Lutz - Utopia w/ Leif Berger, Constantin Krahmer
OLIVER LUTZ
js· 79 minutes ago
Lift
DAVE WILSON (US/NZ)
js· 2 days ago
Nature is a Mother
CHARLIE PYNE
js· 2 days ago
Marta Warelis solo @ FourOneOne 5-11-23
MARTA WARELIS
js· 2 days ago
The Chapparrals - Shake Your Head (US, 1978) [Full LP] {Funk, Disco, Soul} ??ULTRA RARE KILLER LP??
THE CHAPPARRALS
js· 3 days ago
More videos

New JMA Jazz Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Jazz News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed