Quentin Collins

Event information

"A Trumpeter whose style is a sizzling update of the Morgan/Hubbard approach."
 MOJO Magazine
During his 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, Prince, Jeff Beck, 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, with whom Quentin toured for 3 years.
In 2007 Quentin released his debut album ‘If Not Now, Then When?’ which was Voted jazz Album of the year and led to rave reviews, including HMV Magazine calling him “UK’s hottest young trumpet star”.
In 2019 he assembled an all-star, transatlantic sextet (Featuring Dan Nimmer & Willie Jones III) to release Road Warrior (Ubuntu Music), a collection of straight- ahead contemporary bop, composed equally by Collins and alto saxophone ace Tom Harrison. Amongst other plaudits, it received a review from BBC Music Magazine, and The Guardian Newspaper stated: “The combination of virtuosity, togetherness and sheer spirit that emerges from these nine tracks is quite remarkable.”
Quentin has been a regular member of The Kyle Eastwood Band since 2011, with whom he tours across the globe extensively. He has featured as performer, composer & arranger on Eastwood’s past 4 albums: ‘The View From Here’ (2013); ‘Timepieces’ (2015); ‘In Transit’ (2017); ‘Cinematic’ (2019). In 2021 they managed to put together a string of 40+ international shows at a time when most groups found it near impossible to tour due to travel restrictions.
Quentin currently co-leads QCBA, a Hammond-organ quartet with tenor sax titan Brandon Allen. QC/BA’s debut album, What's It Gonna Be was released in May 2011 on Sunlightsquare Records to great acclaim, including heavy rotation on JazzFM, and 5* review in London’s Evening Standard newspaper.
Their 2nd release, Beauty in Quiet Places (Ubuntu Music, 2015), was described in ‘Blues and Soul Magazine’ as being “So damn infectious, it's almost impossible to resist!”
Their current release is a live album collaboration with UK Soul legend Omar- ‘Omar + QCBA’ ‘Live At Last’, recorded May 2021 at Jazz Café London.
In 2015 Quentin Collins partnered with Martin Hummel to form Ubuntu Music, a label that aspires to nurture the careers of young & gifted artists and connect them with wider audiences. Quentin's role as Artistic Director has allowed him to develop his skills as a producer, overseeing the release of many albums between 2015-2018. He had an integral role as producer for young sax stars Leo Richardson & Camilla George’s critically acclaimed debut albums.
Between 2003-2018 Quentin was Brass Professor on the Dordogne International Jazz Summer School, held annually in South west France, teaching students of all levels from around the globe. He has also taught combos and mentored students at since 2010 at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music And Dance in London.
Between 2011-2020, when not touring, Quentin hosted a twice monthly residency at London’s prestigious Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club with various lineups, featuring amongst others Andrew McCormack/Ashley Henry on piano and Gene Calderazzo/ Jamie Murray on drums, and Daniel Casimir/Laurence Cottle on bass.
Between 2017-2019 Quentin was Musical Director for Highly acclaimed Palestinian singer Omar Kamal. Performances across UK and the Middle East included Beiteddine festival in Lebanon, Bahrain’s Culture of Spring Festival, Dubai Opera House and Cadogan Hall in London, with Quentin leading ensembles of up to 70 musicians including the Lebanese Symphony Orchestra, and United Strings of Europe. Quentin also co-produced Omar’s 2019 album ‘Show Me The Light’. He continues to tour internationally with Omar Kamal, with a busy 2022 schedule lined up.
His commercial writing career has seen Quentin compose for such films as Mike Cahill’s acclaimed 2021 release ‘Bliss’ starring Owen Wilson & Salma Hayek, Daniel Ragussis’s 2016 release Imperium starring Daniel Radcliffe, Cuban Fury (2014) starring Nick Frost, and ‘Tell It To The Bees’ (2018) starring Anna Paquin. Quentin also boasts writing, arranging and performing credits for several episodes of Syfy Networks ‘The Magicians’, and many more performing credits for TV and movies including ‘Mortdecai’ (2015) starring Jonny Depp.