Trio Gitano

Trio Gitano have established a solid following the Trio performing 'gypsy-influenced' Jazz, Latin and Flamenco music, with arrangements and original compositions penned by Director Bryan Lester, incorporating music from the likes of Django Reinhardt and Paco de Lucia.

The Trio have recently performed for an estimated 30,000 people at Birmingham's 'Fireworks Fantasia', and played for a week at The Royal Opera House in September for 'The Festival of Firsts'. TG have just returned from a highly successful performance at The Bluejay Jazz Lounge in London, accompanied by jazz trumpeter Ray Butcher, and also sold-out for their most recent gig in Birmingham last week. The Trio will record their debut album in the summer after graduating from Birmingham University.

Local critic for 'The Birmingham Post', Graham Higgins, described a recent performance at Ty's Jazz and Spice ...

"The 18 strings belong to one instrument, but temperament also emerges. Sam takes a melodic line for a run, whilst Sophie's upper-register sarabandes contrast with Jamie's brooding drive and taste for flamenco chords which play at the edge of be-bop.

These tendencies are highlighted in Take 5 Trains, a take on the Brubeck standard, which gradually splinters and refracts the theme, exploring its rhythmic and melodic fragments. This is one of the pieces arranged by the fourth  musical director, who clearly doesn't compromise in the Missions Impossible he offers them. His Latin Swing is a full-tilt run at a maze of rhythmic cross-currents, while On The Run builds into flirtation with rock riffage.