TG COLLECTIVE
About TGC
“You’ll see that they can let their hair down … from gypsy swing to husling, Chick Corea-ish improv, and serene excursions into the baroque, the playlist always keeps you guessing. And the telepathy is always tuneful.”
“… impeccable musicianship … a Gypsy jazz delight … played with masterly flamenco and classical guitar technique … The musicianship of the players provides some glorious sounds and textures. There is certainly some beautiful and emotional music on this album … This is different and interesting. And did I mention the impeccable musicianship?”
“They play together with pinpoint precision … scorching improvisations … a rewarding listen all round. ****
“A very tasty gumbo indeed. TGC’s ever widening crazy-quilt of influences … delightful … swinging … unerringly lyrical.”
An intriguing mix of gypsy jazz, flamenco, jazz and contemporary classical influences, TG Collective is built around the core of guitarists Jamie Fekete and Sam Slater, alongside the Arabic oud, flutes, violin, double bass, trumpet, clarinet, cajón and percussion.
Creating “an exciting, sensuous sound“, the seven-strong TGC perform intricate originals and arrangements, touching on influences as varied as Paco de Lucia and Anouar Brahem to Django Reinhardt and JS Bach, and have built up a strong following with their intense live performances across Europe. “… their signature eclectic sound full of gypsy jazz, flamenco influences and classical tones has strength and fluidity … their innovative and fabulous imaginative writing deserve the grandest praise…” – [UK Vibe – Kings Place, 2015). The band is completed with the double bass and trumpet of Percy Pursglove; flautist Holly Jones; Lluis Mather’s clarinet; Kit Massey on violin, and cajón/percussionist Joelle Barker, with ever-changing shapes of ensemble within a performance.
Growing out of the young acoustic guitar trio, Trio Gitano (their 2005 debut album Who Ate All The Tapas? landing a spot in The Sunday Times’ Records of the Year) – TG Collective have since found themselves touring in innumerable weird and wonderful locations … from a live appearance on BBC One’s Politics Show to a cavernous former asylum in Dorset … sell-outs at the Cheltenham and Manchester Jazz Festivals to London’s South Bank and Kings Place … the ever-surprising Shambala Festival to a beach in Cannes (from where Frank Skinner still owes Jamie a cigarette) … Serbia’s Nisville Festival to the Bansko Jazz Festival in Bulgaria … a factory in Birmingham to Belfast’s Open House Festival.
In May 2012, the band released their long-awaited first album as TG Collective – Release The Penguins, receiving glowing reviews from The Sunday Times, Songlines, fRoots and Jazzwise to Time Out and Yahoo!
Recent years have taken TGC to a (sell-out) return to the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, several packed shows at Pizza Express Soho, a live session for JazzFM, appearances at Jamie Oliver’s Big Feastival, the Manchester Jazz Festival and the Cambridge Big Weekend, with radio play from BBC Radio 3 to KEXP in Seattle! After a writing break and new violinist Kit Massey on board, TGC are touring in summer/autumn 2016, with a new recording in the making for 2017.
“There are strong contributions from the whole band … and the rhythm team hunkered down and tightly groovy, but the heart of TG remains the exceptional two-as-one guitar pair of Fekete and Slater … The album ends as it had begun – on the sunnier side of this particular flamenco jazz street.”
The Birmingham Post
© TG Collective 2022
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