Polar Bear

Key tracks:

Happy For You
Hope Every Day Is A Happy New Year
All Here
Peepers

Label: The Leaf Label

Description:

Catchy dream jazz from this acclaimed British combo.

Categorizing Polar Bear’s bandleader Sebastian Rochford poses problems. Jazz is at the heart of his work, yet his understanding of and engagement with a wide range of genres are such that it's impossible to shoehorn his recordings into neat and tidy boxes. Technically Polar Bear mix up many different styles of jazz, from bop to fusion through everything else, but always back to their own recognisable stylistic template. Polar Bear combine the fervour of free jazz with the intensity of punk, and their latest offering “Peepers” is no let down. Rochford’s gift for melodic writing acquires new depth on this latest venture, where the music displays both art and pop sensibilities in the most coherent fashion.

Listen to the euphoric ‘Happy For You’ – where the whole band bounces on a rock beat without resorting to cliché and ‘Hope Every Day Is A Happy New Year’, which features a frenzied sax duet, creating a wild feel. In contrast, ‘All Here’ demonstrates a cool and calm side of the band, with its gentle dips and swells, and a beautiful swaying melody.

Releases we represent:

Peepers | Album | The Leaf Label | 2010

Quotes:

"First serious contender for album of 2010" **** Jazzwise

"A raw, live-in-the-room sound, with elliptical nods to James 'Blood' Ulmer, Tortoise and the free-jazz cosmos along the way... It's jazz shorn of the cliché that demands to be taken on its pigeonhole rebuffing merits" **** Mojo

"Their albums have got better and better" **** Uncut

"The group that flung wide the jazz club windows and let fresh air into a scene mired in cliché and rear-view mirror gazing... Rochford's drums are as characterful as ever, with that sexy groove supplied as standard" The Wire

"Mournful and berserk fun" **** Observer Music Monthly