Polar Bear (jazz)

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For other uses of the term 'Polar Bear', see Polar Bear (disambiguation)

Polar Bear is a British post-jazz band led by drummer Seb Rochford and are signed to the Babel Label.

Their first album Dim Lit was a small scale success. Their second record, Held on the Tips of Fingers merged elements of cool jazz, funk, dance music, free jazz, electronica and Drum and Bass and was, by comparison, a massive crossover hit, earning Polar Bear a nomination for the Mercury Music Prize in 2005.

The success was all the more unusual for an almost purely instrumental album. The album was nominated for a BBC Jazz Award 2006. It was selected as one of "100 Jazz Albums That Shook The World" by Jazzwise magazine. They are part of the F-IRE Collective. They recorded their third album in November 2006 which is to be released on 9th June 2008 with Tin Angel Records.

[edit] Band members

• Seb Rochford (drums), band leader.
• Pete Wareham (Tenor and Baritone saxophone)
• Mark Lockheart (Tenor saxophone)
• Tom Herbert (Double Bass)
• Leafcutter John (mandolin and electronics)

[edit] Discography

• Dim Lit, Babel, 2004, BDV 2446 
• Held On The Tips Of Fingers, Babel, 2005, BDV2552 

[edit] External links

• Held on the Tips of Fingers review at www.allaboutjazz.com
• Held on the Tips of Fingers review at BBC Jazz Review.
• Babel Label web site
• Polar Bear web site
• Polar Bear on Myspace.com