Tuck & Patti are an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

duo consisting of guitarist William Charles "Tuck" Andress (born October 28, 1952, in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

) and singer Patricia "Patti" Cathcart Andress (born October 4, 1949, in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Music career

Guitarist Tuck Andress met singer Patti Cathcart at an audition in San Francisco in 1978. Before this, Andress studied classical music at Stanford and was a session musician with

the Gap Band The Gap Band was an American Contemporary R&B, R&B and funk band that rose to fame during the 1970s and 1980s. The band consisted of three brothers: Charlie Wilson (musician), Charlie, Ronnie, and Robert Wilson, along with other members; it wa ...

. Cathcart was also classically trained and was a member of the Brides of Funkenstein. Andress and Cathcart married in 1983. After moving to Cathcart's hometown of San Francisco, they worked in a rock and roll cover band. They declined offers of recording contracts so they could polish their sound. In 1987, they signed with Windham Hill Jazz, a subsidiary of Windham Hill for whom they recorded their breakout album, ''Tears of Joy'', which received airplay on jazz and pop radio stations around the U.S. They recorded several more albums for Windham Hill Jazz, then signed with

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

in 1995. They followed this with more albums for Windham Hill and 33rd Street. They started the label T&P Records, which licenses their albums for worldwide distribution.Bio page, TuckAndPatti.com In addition to performing they teach private lessons and vocal and guitar workshops. In ''The Jazz Book'', the authors write that Andress uses "unusual percussive and tapping techniques to create rhythmically unbelievable effects". He plays a 1953 Gibson L-5 guitar, which he bought because it was the model played by

Wes Montgomery John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for his unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and for his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a ...

. His niece is singer-songwriter Annie Clark, also known as St. Vincent. As a teenager, Clark was a roadie for Tuck & Patti and was later a tour manager for them.

Discography

* ''Tears of Joy'' ( Windham Hill, 1988) * ''Love Warriors'' (Windham Hill, 1989) * ''Dream'' (Windham Hill, 1991) * ''Learning How to Fly'' (

, 1995) * '' Paradise Found'' (Windham Hill, 1998) * ''Taking the Long Way Home'' (Windham Hill, 2000) * ''Chocolate Moment'' ( 33rd Street, 2002) * ''A Gift of Love'' (T&P, 2004) * ''I Remember You'' (T&P, 2007) Solo albums by Tuck Andress * ''Reckless Precision'' (Windham Hill, 1990) * ''Hymns, Carols, and Songs About Snow'' (Windham Hill, 1991)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuck and Patti American musical duos American fingerstyle guitarists Windham Hill Records artists Male–female musical duos Married couples Musical groups established in 1981 1981 establishments in California Musical groups from California