During a career of over 20 years, trumpeter Quentin Collins has established himself as one of the UK’s top jazz/commercial players. He has performed, toured and recorded with a plethora of internationally renowned artists across many genres including Fred Wesley, Gregory Porter, Mark Ronson, Omar, Basement Jaxx, Roy Ayers, Alicia Keys, Dennis Rollins and Mulatu Astatke.
At just 19 years old, he featured on ‘Star Chasers’, a track from 4Hero’s Mercury nominated album Two Pages and soon after, played on the instantly recognisable ‘Do Your Thing’ by Basement Jaxx.
His debut as leader came with the release of If Not Now Then When (Sunlightsquare, 2007) and in 2019 he assembled an all-star, transatlantic sextet to release Road Warrior (Ubuntu Music), a collection of original, straight-ahead contemporary bop compositions written by Collins and alto saxophone ace Tom Harrison. The album features pianist Dan Nimmer, drummer Willie jones III, bassist Joe Sanders, tenor sax player Leo Richardson and Meilana Gillard on alto sax. Amongst other plaudits, the album received a ★★★★ review from the Guardian Newspaper that stated: “The combination of virtuosity, togetherness and sheer spirit that emerges from these nine tracks is quite remarkable.” and a glowing review from Jazz Journal described it as “A vibrant mix of contemporary straight ahead jazz and hard bop... This is creative ensemble playing of the highest order. It sparkles with energy and has highly impressive soloing from musicians at the top of their game."
For the past twelve years, Quentin has toured the world extensively with the Kyle Eastwood Band and is featured prominently as a performer and arranger on Cinematic (Pias, 2019) and as performer and composer on In Transit (Pias, 2017), Time Pieces (Jazz Village, 2015) and The View From Here (Jazz Village, 2013).
In 2015 Quentin co-founded Ubuntu Music with Martin Hummel, a label building a reputation for nurturing the careers of young & gifted artists and connect them with wider audiences. His role as Artistic Director allowed him to develop his skills as a producer and he played an integral role in the critically acclaimed debut albums Leo Richardson's The Chase, Camilla George’s Isang and Noemi Nuti’s Nice to Meet You as well as Chet Baker Live in London. He also produced his own QC/BA (a Hammond-organ quartet with tenor sax titan Brandon Allen) album Beauty in Quiet Places (Ubuntu Music, 2015), the follow up to debut What’s it Gonna Be (Sunlightsquare, 2011), and lauded in ‘Blues and Soul Magazine’ as being “So damn infectious, it's almost impossible to resist!"
Quentin held an eight year residency at London’s prestigious Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club with his quartet, featuring Andrew McCormack on piano and Gene Calderazzo on drums.
Click below to learn more about Quentin’s current projects:
KYLE EASTWOOD BAND
