Portico Quartet
Trajectory: Direct To Vinyl

Listening notes

Portico Quartet's *Trajectory: Direct To Vinyl* was released in 2020 on Gondwana Records, catalogued under GOND121001. The release is a single vinyl record containing two tracks: "Trajectory" on the A-side, running nine minutes and forty-seven seconds, and "Signals In The Dusk" on the B-side, at five minutes and thirty-seven seconds.

The format itself is central to the release's identity, as the title explicitly declares the direct-to-vinyl method of production. Direct-to-vinyl recording bypasses the intermediate stages of tape or digital capture, committing a live performance directly to a lacquer disc in a single continuous pass. This approach leaves no room for post-production editing or correction, meaning the performances heard on each side represent a complete, uninterrupted take. The asymmetry in running time between the two sides — nearly ten minutes on the A-side against under six on the B — points to distinct compositional choices rather than paired pieces of equivalent weight.

The release sits within the jazz genre and comes from Gondwana Records, a Manchester-based independent label with a catalogue that spans contemporary jazz and related forms. Portico Quartet are a London-based group with a history on the label.

At two tracks and a combined running time of roughly fifteen and a half minutes, *Trajectory: Direct To Vinyl* is a focused release rather than a full-length album. Whether the brevity is a consequence of the direct-to-vinyl format's physical and logistical constraints, or a deliberate artistic decision, is not something this entry can confirm.

*This is an unreviewed draft. All claims beyond the verified catalogue data — including the description of direct-to-vinyl recording methodology and statements about Gondwana Records and Portico Quartet's backgrounds — require independent fact-checking before publication.*