The Portico Quartet is a British jazz band, formed in 2005. In 2014, they changed names to Portico. Formed from two sets of schoolfriends, they share a house in East London, make recordings, and play festivals and clubs. They are primarily acoustic: percussion, bass, and wind instruments, together with the hang, a tuned percussion instrument bought on impulse at a music festival. The line-up of the band is Duncan Bellamy (drums), Milo Fitzpatrick (double bass), Jack Wyllie (soprano, tenor saxophones and electronics) and Keir Vine (hang and percussion), replacing Nick Mulvey, whom left the band in August 2014 for a solo career.
They started their career busking on the South Bank in London’s, began to get paid bookings plus the odd festival, and made a five-track CD to sell at gigs. In 2007 they signed a record deal to make a full length CD, Knee Deep in the North Sea. This was a turning point; the album attracted attention from DJs, bloggers, and critics, and was nominated for the 2008 Mercury Music Prize. The band's second album was Isla (2009), recorded by producer John Leckie. It preceeded albums Portico Quartet (2012) and Living Fields, released early 2015. They also released a Live/Remix album in 2013.
