Howl Quartet
Howl Quartet
Tue 18 November 2025
Stage time / 8:00pm
Doors / 6:30pm
Celebrating the Jazz Clubs
Join Howl Quartet at PizzaExpress Live, Soho, to celebrate the release of their third album Night Song. Known for their melodic storytelling and improvisational depth, the band takes inspiration from Allen Ginsberg’s poem Howl, crafting music with intensity and lyrical honesty.
Formed in 2017 by long-time collaborators Dan Smith, Pete Komor, Harry Brunt, and Matt Parkinson, the co-led acoustic quartet draws from folk, rock, and contemporary jazz influences. After previous sell out performances Howl Quartet return to PizzaExpress to share their most personal and expressive music to date.
Howl Quartet takes inspiration from ‘Howl’ Allen Ginsberg’s seminal poem. The immediacy of the verse and intense conviction behind Ginsberg’s writing reflects the bands approach to composition and performance. The band is a dynamic, expressive outlet with an emphasis on storytelling through melodic composition and improvisation. Formed of old friends and collaborators, this co-led acoustic quartet emerged in 2017 through a passion for developing a collective sound. Inspired by artists such as Endangered Blood, The Bad Plus and Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band, there is an innate freedom and creative intensity to their music.
Dan Smith and Pete Komor first met in Cardiff in 2010 whilst studying together at The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. By 2013 Harry Brunt had also enrolled at RWCMD and the three became firm friends and regular collaborators. By 2015 Dan, Pete & Harry had moved to London to enrol in further study (The Royal Academy of Music & Guildhall School of Music & Drama) and perform regularly. They soon met Matt Parkinson on the thriving scene and began playing regularly in a plethora of musical contexts. Harry brought Howl Quartet together in 2017. Soon however, the band began writing compositions inspired by folk, rock and contemporary rhythms and they began shaping a sound that is uniquely theirs. The years of friendship and performing have created an open and reflective environment that allows space for deep and thoughtful music to be created. As a group, Howl Quartet share their personal experiences in their compositions and portray life in a visceral and honest manner.
Formed in 2017 by long-time collaborators Dan Smith, Pete Komor, Harry Brunt, and Matt Parkinson, the co-led acoustic quartet draws from folk, rock, and contemporary jazz influences. After previous sell out performances Howl Quartet return to PizzaExpress to share their most personal and expressive music to date.
Howl Quartet takes inspiration from ‘Howl’ Allen Ginsberg’s seminal poem. The immediacy of the verse and intense conviction behind Ginsberg’s writing reflects the bands approach to composition and performance. The band is a dynamic, expressive outlet with an emphasis on storytelling through melodic composition and improvisation. Formed of old friends and collaborators, this co-led acoustic quartet emerged in 2017 through a passion for developing a collective sound. Inspired by artists such as Endangered Blood, The Bad Plus and Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band, there is an innate freedom and creative intensity to their music.
Dan Smith and Pete Komor first met in Cardiff in 2010 whilst studying together at The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. By 2013 Harry Brunt had also enrolled at RWCMD and the three became firm friends and regular collaborators. By 2015 Dan, Pete & Harry had moved to London to enrol in further study (The Royal Academy of Music & Guildhall School of Music & Drama) and perform regularly. They soon met Matt Parkinson on the thriving scene and began playing regularly in a plethora of musical contexts. Harry brought Howl Quartet together in 2017. Soon however, the band began writing compositions inspired by folk, rock and contemporary rhythms and they began shaping a sound that is uniquely theirs. The years of friendship and performing have created an open and reflective environment that allows space for deep and thoughtful music to be created. As a group, Howl Quartet share their personal experiences in their compositions and portray life in a visceral and honest manner.
