Born in Croydon and raised in Cambridgeshire, award-winning pianist and composer Terence Collie has built a distinctive voice on the contemporary UK jazz scene through emotionally rich compositions and cinematic storytelling.

A self-taught keyboard player from an early age, Collie joined his first professional band in Jersey at just 17 years old. Between 1988 and 1995, he performed extensively across the island’s hotels, pubs and nightclubs while developing a deep passion for jazz at Jersey’s Blue Note Jazz Bar. During this formative period, he studied jazz piano alongside private classical lessons and had opportunities to support artists including Teddy Edwards, Average White Band, Georgie Fame, Andy Sheppard, Jason Rebello and Digby Fairweather.

In the late 1990s, Collie returned to mainland UK and secured a six-night-a-week residency at PizzaExpress in Cambridge, performing solo and in duos. The intensive schedule enabled him to build a vast jazz repertoire and refine the improvisational fluency and lyrical touch that would become hallmarks of his playing.

In 2011, Collie formed the jazz-fusion group Prison Break, recording two albums of original music and gaining valuable experience in self-recording and production. Two years later, he co-founded Mood Indigo Events, curating acclaimed jazz concerts and five editions of the TW12 Jazz Festival, while performing regularly alongside leading UK jazz musicians.

Collie has since appeared at many of the UK’s leading jazz venues and festivals, including Cadogan Hall, EFG London Jazz Festival, The Brecon Jazz Festival, PizzaExpress Jazz Club Soho, The 606 Club, and The Stables Wavendon.

Since lockdown, Collie has released four albums in just three years, each project marking a significant artistic progression and steadily expanding international recognition. In 2025, he was awarded a MOBO Amplified Award, support that helped shape and develop his latest project, “DNA”. Releasing in 2026 on Adhyâropa Records, “DNA” is Collie’s most ambitious and personal work to date. Inspired by his own family heritage, the album explores themes of ancestry, migration, identity and belonging through a deeply narrative musical lens and features an international ensemble including Nick Lenner-Webster, Cosimo Keita Cadore and Ted Carrasco, along with the London String Group Trio.

Alongside his recorded output, Collie has become increasingly recognised for pairing his music with ambitious visual storytelling and independently produced creative projects. His growing YouTube channel features cinematic videos and visual narratives that expand upon the themes and storytelling within his music. His work has received support from Jazz FM, BBC Radio 3 and international jazz media, with praise for its melodic strength, emotional honesty and atmospheric writing.

Selected press quotes include:

“I love the really emotive string arrangements all constructed around that lyrical melody.” - Soweto Kinch, Round Midnight, BBC Radio 3

“Mesmerising” - Jazzwise

“Great feel, nice lines, nice chromatic stuff and really exciting!” - Jason Rebello

“A superb album.” - Sammy Stein, Platinum Mind

“Stunning… Terence Collie is an artist whose work deserves to be celebrated.” - Jazz in Europe

“Catch the Terence Collie Quartet if you get the chance, you won’t be disappointed.” - UK Jazz News