About Tongues of Fire

Tongues of Fire are an 8 piece band based in the South West of England. From the streets to stages, festivals to village halls, we have been making people dance, dream, and celebrate for over 20 years. 

The band was founded by veteran street band musician Tim Hill in 2004, and features musicians drawn from the worlds of free jazz, brass bands, contemporary classical, theatre and samba. The band was created to play in the street, on stages and concert halls, and to make music that is both adventurous and accessible. A key part of our work is in outdoor theatre shows and processions. We often work with companies like Macnas, Rag and Bone, And Now and Cirque Bijou. Tim has been musical director for these companies and many other shows and festivals. The band is the 'house' band for The Sound of the Streets festival, of which Tim is festival director.

We have played Stockton International Riverside Festival 2025, DOCA Devizes, WOMAD, Camp Bestival 2023/4, Durham Brass Festival, Inside Out Festival, Lakes Alive, Hull Freedom Festival, Baule d'Air, The Barbican, Galway Arts festival,  Glasgow Jazz Festival, Wilderness Festival, Marsden Jazz Festival, for Oxford Contemporary Music and many more

We also played for ‘The Battle for the Winds’, the opening show for the Weymouth Olympic Sailing events, for the National 20/20 cricket finals, Exeter’s Rugby World Cup celebrations, Liverpool Lord Mayors Parade, Cowley Carnival and Luke Jeram's Fallen Moon in Bridgwater Docks.

You can see us here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JH1PD4tFoo

Band members include

Stuart Henderson  and Joe Porter - trumpets

Robert Jarvis, Vincent Touret and Harry Dawes - trombones

Tom Francombe - sousaphone and tuba

Emma Holbrook and Jo Meikle - drums

Tim Hill - alto and baritone sax