Heather Hoyle.

Heather Hoyle.
Musician, songwriter, band leader.

Events & gigs

Get in the Groove

162 Chiswick High Road, Chiswick, London, W4 1PR

I run a night with DJ Maurits, (Velvet Entertainment) at High Road House in Chiswick on the last Friday of every month. Get your dancing shoes on and come and boogie to some feel-good funky beats and, you guessed it, get-down grooves!

Musicians are welcome to come and sit in – there's been a full horn section, vocalist and MC jamming with our hoppin' band, a showcase of some of London's finest players.

The music starts around 9 with DJ Maurits and myself kicking things off. The band is on from 10 – and the jamming rarely stops before 2am.

Because it's a members' bar they like us to put a guest list together. Send me your name and any guests you'd like to bring along and I'll see you on the dance floor.

Writing, recording and collaborations

Although live performance in my mainstay, I’ve had some varied commissions and interesting collaborations.

Writing/composing

July '09: Soho House. I am currently writing material for High Road House Band with a Blue Note, rare-groove/funk spin.  We shall be recording a 3 track taster CD, (hopefully at Metropolis Studios, a dream coming true?), with some juicy remixes this summer.

February '09: Virgin Media. I wrote some original music and performed my fanfare with a foxy sax quartet at the live launch of Virgin Media in Covent Garden in the snow with Dita Von Teese and Sir Richard Branson arriving in a horse-drawn carriage. Somewhat surreal and exceedingly chilly.

October '08: The Secret Life of Airports. Wrote and recorded music for the BBC documentary 'The Secret life of Airports', (move over Brian Eno).

May '07: Universal – Brazil. Universal asked me to write three tracks for them, so I went to Brazil for a month to record in the jungle with my old buddy and musical magician Beberto, who had taught me 'The Girl From Ipanema' when I was ten.

Film

Pulled out all the saxes to record with a jazz quartet for Cerebral productions madcap team on the score of Tony Kaye's new movie. My finest squealing, wailing, strangled chicken noises were required for a particularly violent rape scene. Thankfully the majority of the tracks needed a mellower, jazzy vibe.

Studio collaborations

  • Sweetie Irie
  • Damon Albarn
  • Neneh Cherry
  • Layo & Bushwaker
  • Les Voleurs, (moomusound.com)
  • Kosmetiq
  • Boarder Crossing

Me, me, me!

I started playing the tenor saxophone aged 10, putting my first band together when I was at school for a One World Action charity event with Neil Kinnock on percussion. This lead to my first professional break, a season at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (1998). Improvising and gallivanting around stage in neon corsets and lace for a ribald production of Middleton's 'A Mad World My Masters' whet my appetite. I was hooked on performing and headed to New York for some jazz explorations.

New York rocked.

I was accepted for the New School's jazz programme and got to play with Reggie Workman, John Coltrane's bassist. I met Wynton Marsalis and his Lincoln Center Jazz Band, played at the top of the World Trade Centre and accidentally sat in legendary tenor sax player James Moody's birthday cake.

Back in London...

I studied jazz at Trinity College of music (1999-2003), whilst playing a mash-up of other musical styles in London clubs. Everything from house, hip-hop, chill-out, latin, electro and break-beat in venues including Ministry of Sound, Ronnie Scotts' and the Jazz Cafe.  During my performance degree I studied African music and put together a township and high life band, Momsen Mysurenko.

I performed at the Henley Music festival with the Trinity College Big Band, and returning in following years with my own girl jazz band, featuring Zoë Rahmen. At the Holders festival in Barbados I performed with opera sensation Gwyneth-Ann Jeffers, and got my first taste of tour bus life on the road with the Guillemots, playing festivals across the UK, Germany, Holland and Belgium. They kindly got me along to perform with them at the Mercury music awards. Fyfe Dangerfield is still the only person to have convinced me to pick up the clarinet, aka, death stick.

Racking up the air miles.

I've been lucky enough to play at parties and events for Virgin in Shanghai, Sydney and Brisbane. After which Richard Branson invited me to sing and play at his son Sam's 21st Birthday extravaganza where I serenaded Bob Geldof and Natalie Imbruglia dressed as Marilyn Monroe in eight-inch stilettos.

In New York I jammed with Roy Ayres and his band in a tiny Harlem pub with the most attentive audience ever. If we hadn't been playing so loud, you'd have heard a pin drop. I've performed at Cannes film festival parties with Norman Jay, at the Monaco Grand Prix on Armani's yatch and entertained VIPs at the UEFA cup final in Athens fronting original band the Index, a mixture of afro-beat and nu-jazz with funk and hip-hop grooves.

Other people I've played with include, Madness, Michael Franti, Jools Holland, Marcus Printup, the Ronnie Scott's All Stars, Bruce Forsyth, Lulu, Nigel Kennedy, The Drifters and Lou Reed. I've played support for Maceo Parker, Jarvis Cocker, The Feeling and Leona Lewis.

Unabashedly pushing on with the name dropping...

...I've performed at colourful assortment of parties for many poor ol' paparazzi-stalked celebs: David and Victoria Beckham, Al Pacino, Ralph Fiennes, Robbie Coltrane, Daniel Craig, Ian Hislop, Nicole Kidman, and that other hornblower Ioan Gruffudd. The future king of England bopped on the dance-floor with a pink feather bower to some funky riffs at a spectacular birthday party. But the best celeb combo, (a platonic bond I suspect), was Trinny and Slash at the Royal Academy of Art's new exhibition.

I've recently acquired a beautiful alto flute to record with Bushwacker, and have been layering up the soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxes for dub-step, one-girl horn sections for Les Voleurs.

Book me

If you're interested in booking me but would like to hear me play live first, get in touch and I'll put you on the guest list for one of my events. In the meantime it would be really helpful if you filled in a few details.

Booking form

Working regularly with an eclectic bunch including the Ronnie Scotts All Stars, Layo and Bushwacker and Norman Jay, I can round up top calibre musicians and DJs to create whatever sound and style you're after. Let me know what you need and I'll find you the people to make it happen.

Current projects

Nothing beats the buzz of performing to a happy, live audience, and variety keeps things fresh and fun. Here are some of the groups I’ve drawn together recently:

The High Road House Band

The High Road House Band is a groove-based project inspired by Blue Note ’60s classics with juicy remixes in the pipeline.

Epiphany

Epiphany is an all-girl 5 piece playing soul-tinged nu-jazz and trip hop.

The Heather Hoyle Trio

The Heather Hoyle Trio features the inimitable Tom Fry on technicolour double bass and downright miraculous Danny Keane on keys. Good, old fashioned, swinging jazz.

Vodka Martini

Fulfilling a life-long fantasy of being a Bond Girl with Vodka Martini, a 6-piece band featuring the gorgeous Shea Soul and Ruth Elder, putting a funky modern spin on classic James Bond themes.

Book me

If you’re interested in booking me but would like to hear me play live first, get in touch and I'll put you on the guest list for one of my events...

Heather Hoyle. Musician, Songwriter, Band leader. Wheathill Music.

Corporate clients include...

Porsche, Bentley, Apple, De Veers, Boodles, Fortnum & Mason, Mercedes-Benz, Veuve Clicquot and Virgin.

Name dropping includes...

...and plenty more to come.

Upcoming gigs

17–19 July 2009

Latitude Festival, Suffolk

By a little campfire somewhere.

Last Friday of every month

Get in the Groove –
High Road House, London

Feel-good, funky beats and get-down grooves. Get in touch, and I’ll make sure you’re on the guest list.

More events & gigs...

About me

Music makes the world a better place. Making music makes me jollier than anything else. Except perhaps surfing, but it’s harder to share a wave than a good tune. My favourite instrument is the tenor sax, but my menagerie has grown to include the soprano, alto and baritone sax, flute, alto flute, ukulele and guitar. Instruments are like paint pots and raw collage material. Musicians are the possessed, crazed-lunatic brushes, staple guns and pritt-stick.

More about me...

“Heather Hoyle reaches amazing heights as a sax player. When she swings it’s a long way to the ‘down’ beat. Koolness.”

Nigel Kennedy

“She dazzles the audience every time. A fantastic performer, everyone deserves great sax.”

Sir Richard Branson

“You’re just wonderful!”

Kim Cattrall

“Marvellous, marvellous playing.”

Bruce Forsyth