The Blessing

". this outfit will surely recharge the jazz world."

***** -BBC Music Magazine



"the heavyweights of the contemporary jazz scene

****- The Independent



"A blast"

****- Mojo Magazine



"Occasionally you hear a jazz album that you know would shift truckloads of units if only it weren't labelled 'jazz'. Bugs in Amber is just such a disc."

- Metro



"A revelation" ****-Evening Standard



Winners of the BBC Jazz Award 2008 for their debut album "All Is Yes" (Cake/Candid), Get The Blessing are currently one of the UK’s most exciting live bands. Featuring bassist Jim Barr and drummer Clive Deamer from trip-hop legends Portishead, plus the twin horns & electronic devices of saxophonist Jake McMurchie and trumpeter Pete Judge, GTB have forged a unique signature sound that defies easy classification, yet never loses sight of thumping tunes, monstrously infectious beats, or joyous collective spontaneity.  

Their new album, "Bugs In Amber" -described as the post-jazz soundtrack to an imaginary low-budget James Bond movie remade by Tarkovsky and starring Buster Keaton - has received widespread critical and popular acclaim. With influences ranging from Ornette Coleman and Tortoise, to Blondie and Samuel Beckett, GTB consistently confound expectation. Prepare to be teased, beguiled, soothed, spooked, jolted, and ultimately uplifted. 



Q . how and when did The Blessing first get together ?

A. there used to be an Ornette Coleman fan club in Bristol … the meetings were held in a very old café in Westone under Nudlum .

They have the best bleach cakes in the world . also coffee .

Listening to Ornette and eating those cakes we knew we had to do something together .

Q . Can you explain why you wear suits and bags on your heads ?

A . We do a lot of weddings and funerals … so its easier just to wear suits all the time than turn up to a formal occasion wearing the usual jodhpurs and sandals . we wear bags so no one can see us laughing.

Q . Its been said in many of your interviews that you wont use chords

In your music . why is that ?

A .when we started playing together , we could only afford the cheaper brands of chord they made our music sound sickly and greasy .

After one particular session we had used far too many chords … clive our drummer was violently sick . even now that we can afford much better quality chords , we choose not to .

Q . what would you say is the single biggest influence on The Blessings compositions ?

A . some time ago whilst touring in andalucia , we were served a local delicacy …. “The creaking of prawns “ we all simoultaniously became synaesthetic . now all our melodies are infused wth the delicate purples and pinks of small crustacia frying .



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