Donny Pham on drums
 Tai Ara on guitar

          
 Kori Ayukawa on bass

          
 PHATT al on the mic

          
 Martino Lozej on keys

          
 Louwop
          on the mic

From Jazz School to Old-Skool

Born of atmospheric smoky lounge club environs, the Quartertones are part professionally trained jazz musicians and part hip hop experimentalists groomed on a diet of live show gigging making them both musically tight and innovative. The Quartertones are not only pushing their sound to new levels, but are able to showcase their progressionist taste within the support of a solidly trained background and sure musical ability. The result is a sound that dares to approach hip hop differently and yet is unquestionably strong in musical organization, arrangement, and execution.

Experimental and progressionist in their approach, The Quartertones dedication to emancipating themselves from the common fare comes with honesty and respect for musicality. Traversing the land of old soul, jazz, funk, and hip hop, The Quartertones emerge as a fusion band combining Miles Davis, Grant Green, and Freddy Hubbard licks with an organic live hip hop feel. Although sometimes compared to artists like The Roots, The Quartertones bring a distinctly different taste to the stage courtesy of their strictly jazz origins. Experimentation and influences such as A Tribe Called Quest, Mos Def, and the old-school stylings of artists like Afrika Bambaata and Parliament lend the band a hip hop / funk appeal supported by an old-skool jazz sensibility. The band aims to bring an appreciation of and connection with live sound to today's younger urban music audiences who are just becoming reacquainted with the live music experience: "We're bringing back a whole realm of music to those who haven't gotten much of it" explains Taisuke Ara. "We know that enough people want to hear the sounds of groups like Afrika Bambaata and Parliament but with a modern twist, hip hop proves that by the amount of work sampled by these kinds of artists," says PHATT al "We just wanna come out and give the people what they want through our own original material and old school sound."

The Quartertones are at the forefront of Toronto's organic hip hop scene. Formed in 1996 as a strictly instrumentational band they began to really catch attention when they were further introduced to the local hip hop circuit at Toronto's first live hip hop instrumentation with open mic event, Freestylin' in 1997. The idea of Freestylin' was to bring live jazz to hip hop in a new way by giving local emcees the chance to freestyle (improvise) over a live jazz-hip hop jam session. The first evening was a success and Freestylin' continues today at Toronto's Rivoli. A host of other similar nights have cropped up around the city in the past year all confirming the interest in live organic hip hop with an off the cuff charm. Freestylin' s hip hop format persuaded the Quartertones to experiment further with hip hop's vocal element and resulted in the band's incorporation of local emcees, PHATT al (sic) and Louwop. This expanded the band from a four piece rhythm section of upright bass, electric guitar, keyboard, and drummer, to a six member act. Hip hop influenced the band's instrumental aspect culminating in an acid-jazz sound. The live improvisational nature of the band can still be felt in their written and well-rehearsed songs acting as a testament to the original Quartertones format.

Members of the Quartertones have worked with many various and style-varied artists, including LEN (sic), Jacksoul, Raggadeath, Cryptik Souls Crew, Pocket Dwellers, D.O.M., One Step Beyond, Punjabi By Nature, Redefinition of Cool, 10th Planet, and Unit-E, and are also featured on several tracks on the LEN album (Epic/Sony) scheduled for a summer 2000 release. The Quartertones consist of: Taisuke Ara (guitar) and Kori Ayukawa (upright bass), with Martino Lozej (keyboardist), Donny Pham (drum), PHATT al (vocals), and Louwop (vocals).

Member History

Tai Ara (guitar) and Kori Ayukawa (upright bass) met through Humber College's jazz program in 1996 and began to jam together on a regular basis. Kori introduced Tai to drummer, Kevin Dean, and the three found they had good chemistry. Ara describes the trio as "harmonically twisted" and explains that they played "free jazz" which is sometimes referred to as "outside" jazz meaning that it deviates from traditional jazz arrangement. At the time they also had an undeniable funk influence. In many ways their loose and expermetnal vibe made them different from their traditionalist classmates, which encouraged the three to look outside of the jazz program for other "outside" jazz musicians. Familiar with another local band, The Pocket Dwellers (then still independent), the three musicians became the Quartertones when they joined forces with The Pocket Dweller's keyboardist, David Leitao. They also enlisted the participation of Johnny Griffiths on sax. Sadly, the band began to fall apart as members became frustrated by lack of gigs and conflicting schedules. By 1997, the Quartertones, minus John Griffiths on sax and with DJ Serious who augmented Kevin's drums, began to play at the live improvisational format of Freestylin'. Freestylin' began in The Lion's Bar, relocated to the We'ave, and now inhabits The Rivoli on a monthly basis.

A little restructuring was required in 1998 when keyboardist David Leitao became occupied by other projects making room for current keyboardist Martino Lozej, and drummer Kevin Dean left the band to travel South America and was subsequently replaced by Donny Pham. The mood of the Quartertones' music explored new territory once again with these two significant changes in band members. Pham brought a much more hip hop-driven drum style, and Lozej heavily influenced the composition and arrangement of songs and brought a distinctly more moody keyboard vibe.

By 1999 the Quartertones were playing the local hip hop circuit on a regular basis with the support of alternating Cryptik Souls djs (among them DJ Serious, Circle Research, and DJ Twist) cutting (or scratching) over the live band and dropping hip hop, jazz, and soul samples into the mix intermittently. Veteran emcees PHATT al and Louwop became ardent fans of the band and became familiar faces at all the Quartertones shows and stepped up to the stage to freestyle over the Quartertones' improvised set. At the time, PHATT al was a member of D.O.M. and had also been working with Jacksoul, Raggadeath, and Plains of Fascination. PHATT al and Louwop together made up New Empire. Both the Quartertones and PHATT al and Louwop had worked with and were later members of the Cryptik Souls Crew. The Quartertones decided to experiment with New Empire's "conscious" raps over their regular jazzed-out hip hop setup. The two groups gelled and began to create the synthesis of sound, personality, and influences that encompasses the Quartertones today. Through many different incarnations, from jazz to hip hop to funk and in between, the Quartertones have arrived at a comfortable fusion of musical influences and cultures, while still moving forward through experiments in sound and musical expression entering the new millennium with distinct Quartertones sound and style.

NOW Magazine: local spotlight April 13th/2000. Photograph: John Scully

Top photos courtesy of Anna Keenan and Planet Pea CSC/LEN