The Bird and the Bee

The Bird And The Bee are a duet of two talented and unique people, multi-instrumentalist Greg Kurstin and singer Inara George. Greg learned to play piano perfectly already in his youth and then relocated from his native California to New York to perform jazz with the leading jazzmen. After a productive cooperation with these musicians, he came back to the West Coast where he participated in various projects and wrote music for other performers. Inara was born in Los Angeles to a family of Lowell George, a member of Little Feat, a band active in the seventies. She started with testing her skills in a number of groups and then, in 2005, launched her own career producing the All Rise album to critical acclaim. During the preparation of this record, Inara and Greg first met. After the sessions for this album, they stayed to experiments with the classical pop music melodies.

They performed old songs making them sound refreshed and contemporary in the manner that would later form the style of The Bird And The Bee duet. As they formed this outfit, Greg, richly experienced in music, coordinated the creational process while Inara was responsible for the vocal parts. Both did not enchain themselves with the strict stylistic patters of a definite genre. There were no rules or schedules for the songwriting process, while Greg and Inara did not tell each other how to act or what to do. The preparation of each song was to a large extent an improvisational act. The musicians did not strive to make a big hit or invent a new type of music. They were set to play music for themselves and did not intend to perform it before crowds. Nevertheless, after the long term experiments, they discovered the way they liked to go. The first song Inara and Greg recorded together, Again & Again, became the opening step to the completion of the whole album made in the same vein as this composition. The self-titled long player saw light in January 2007.

Inara and Greg’s courageous effort to play with styles, that appeared a deadly disaster for many performers, made The Bird And The Bee a successful act. The material they presented featured old-fashioned jazz transfigured into the catchy and contemporary music. The light and romantic atmosphere of these songs raised an unstoppable desire to come back to Track 1 and listen to the record one more time, just like in the song Again & Again. The widest fame came to the track Fucking Boyfriend after the dance remix for this song made its way right to the tops of the charts. The Bird And The Bee strengthened their reputation after some of their compositions had been included into the soundtracks to the well-known movies. For example, their cover of the Bee Gees song How Deep Is Your Love, featured on EP Please Clap Your Hands (2007), was selected for Sex and the City: The Movie. The duet extended their audience significantly as they had tour with some celebrated performers, including the singer Lily Allen, Greg had worked with in 2005. The Bird And The Bee released their second full format album, Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future, in January 2009. Album Interpreting The Masters, Vol. 1: A Tribute To Daryl Hall And John Oates was issued in 2010. It contains cover versions of Daryl Hall and John Oates songs, and Shirley Manson from Garbage performed backing vocals in composition Maneater.