artist The Quartertones

The Quartertones are professionally trained jazz musicians & hiphop experimentalists groomed on a diet of live improvisation, making them exceptionally musical & highly innovative. Traversing the land of old soul, jazz, funk, & hiphop, they emerge as a fusion band combining Bob James or Grant Green, with an organic hiphop feel. In brief, the sound is live Hiphop/Jazz/Funk performed over a drum machine, with a DJ. Formed in 1996 as a instrumental jazz band they began to receive attention when they were introduced to the local circuit at Toronto’s first live-band hiphop show with an open mic event, Freestylin' in 1997. Members of The Quartertones have worked & performed with various and style-varied artists, including DJ Spinna, Abs & Fase, The Oddities, Pocket Dwellers, Birdapres, Circle Research, & LEN. Having just released their first full length CD, "Hidden In Plain Sight", The Quartertones have launched a sonic attack to make the world hear the sound of their machine. Through many different incarnations, from jazz to hiphop to funk & in between, The Quartertones have arrived at a comfortable fusion of musical influences & cultures, while still moving forward through experiments in sound and musical expression with distinct Quartertones sound & style.

Ms. Bates (Katherine Bates) Vocals
Planet Pea (Philip Rae) Manager/ Artist
Jimmy Green (Tai Ara) Guitar
C5KO (Kori Ayukawa) Bass
DJ Serious (David Yan)