Polar Bear: ...to everyone--WAKE UP!

Polar Bear (group)

Mark Lockheart (sax)

Peter Wareham (sax)

Sebastian Rochford (drums)

Tom Herbert (bass)

Leafcutter John (electronics)

If you are looking for the future of jazz, Sweden, Norway and England are places you should be right now. Polar Bear are among a long list of bands from the UK "collective" scene originating with two jazz communities, F-ire and Loop, that are truly reshaping the Jazz to come (that's me taking liberties on Ornette Coleman, sorry).

Polar Bear is the slightly calmer twin of Acoustic Ladyland (featuring two of its founding members), who released my favourtie album of 2009, Living With A Tiger. I originally discovered Polar Bear while waiting for a flight at Gatwick Airport. I was in an airport HMV store and found their first album for just 3 quid. I had read about them in a couple of magazines on my trip but couldn't find anything until I got to the airport. I decided for 3 quid, what the hell. It was the best 3 pounds I had spent on the entire trip and I have been a fan ever since.

Polar Bear may exist in a similar world as Acoustic Ladyland but they are carving out a jazz palate that is still adventurous but stays within the traditional idiom. Led by drummer Seb Rochford, the group is a formidable unit with staggering talent that grows with each record. They have recorded three critically acclaimed albums that are a must for all jazz fans. Polar Bear's first three albums Dim Lit (Babel), Held On The Tips Of Fingers (Babel) and Polar Bear (Tin Angel) all capture a young band that is inventive beyond its years but also one that wants to continue to push the envelope to see what else can be done.

Their 2008 self-titled album lays in some quiet grooves for emotional effect while still keeping their post bop adventurous edge as on as songs like "Sunshine" and "Leafcup". Then, there are great combinations of the avant garde and electronics as heard towards the end of Polar Bear with the song "Sounds Like A Train To Me". A truly original band displaying the creative tendencies you normally would see in an artist like Dave Douglas or Jason Moran, if this isn't Polar Bear's year to finally breakout in the U.S., I will be extremely pissed off.

The London based quintet, release their 4th album, Peepers (Leaf Label) on March 1 and it delivers a clear statement to the rest of the jazz community--wake up and start doing something new!

This is probably my album of the year. Yes I realize we are only two months into a new year but when you make an album like this, everyone needs to step back and take notice. Peepers moves open step ahead of their previous efforts. Peepers has a heavier sound and more descriptive elements as apparent on songs like "Drunken Pharaoh" and "A New Morning Will Come". The always reliable Polar Bear kinetic, experimental energy is still there as evident with "Scream," and "Want To Believe Everything".

With Peepers, Polar Bear have made an album that combines their distinctively British qualities, American influences and European experimentalisim into one cohesive vision that for me is absolutely phenomenal. Of the records you buy this year please, please, please make Peepers one them. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Polar Bear are also offering a FREE download of the titled track, Peepers. You won't be disappointed. And finally, check out their new video for "A New Morning Will Come."

Atomic: Challenging The Nature Of Things

Atomic (band; formed 1999)

Fredrik Ljungkvst (saxophones, clarinet)

Magnus Broo (trumpet)

Paal Nilssen-Love (drums)

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (bass)

Håvard Wiik (piano)

Swedish-Norweigan band Atomic has established itself as one leading bands in Europe. While on first listen you might think this is a free-wheeling avant garde group; you quickly notice that there is a more than just Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane influences going on here. They use these influences as a platform for even more creative explorations. The band is truly a set of equals. All the band members have a say in the writing process which makes each of their albums a solid experience from beginning to end. With 5 albums under their belt, not to mention the individual albums and studio sessions each member contributes too, Atomic are becoming one of the preeminent bands in Europe. The bands improvisational style is similar to that of The Vandermark Five. But where V5 uses sheer force to make its point, Atomic reacts with subtle yet crafty stories making their case in more cerebral form. It's an intriguing mixture of low key personalities and wide arrangement of ideas that come together beautifully.

I really don't have a favourite album. It's been really hard to choose. The last two albums (Retrograde and The Bikini Tapes (both on Jazzland Records)) are three CD sets and not for the uninitiated. If I was pressed I would say go for their debut, Feet Music (Jazzland) which will build the foundation for you. This is free jazz but with a modal structure and direction that you will find ultimately enjoyable.

Sidsel Endresen: That Nordic Voice

Sidsel Endresen (voice)

Photo: C.F. Wesenberg

Sidsel Endresen has been a fixture on the European scene for over 20 years. She has released only a few albums under her own name (eight at last count). She is definitely an artist that might define her music as world (World the genre). While aesthetically the music may be grounded in European jazz--use of sparse arrangements and electronic atmospherics and abstruse lyrics, Sisdel Endresen has created a body of work which is truly original, impressive and influential.

In recent years she has been working with the well-known pianist Bugge Wesseltoft who has surrounded her lyrics mystic with modest yet highly emotional instrumentation. Endresen's albums are more an exploration of voice as instrument than the instruments supporting her. While don't expect everyone to get her I believe she is someone more people need to know about and hear for yourselves. She has also worked with fellow Norwegian, Nils Petter Molvaer and the pairing of her hypnotic voice and Molvaer's muted/electronically tempered trumpet is truly astounding. Those of you familiar with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Sheila Chandra, Diamanda Gallas and combining that with the jazz experiments of Joni Mitchell might also find Sidsel Endresen quite rewarding.

For me the most accessible album might be Out Here. In There. (Jazzland). Out Here. In There. features a nice blend of both Sidsel's folkish/jazz tinged vocal treatments and Bugge Wesseltoft's excellent electronic work as shown of tracks like "Heartbeat", "Survival Techniques" and "Hav". A moody little record that is both engaging and sophisticated.

Sidsel Endresen is an artist reaching beyond rhythmic structure and forcing the listener to view things outside of their comfort zone. This minimalistic approach has made her one of the most soft-after performers and teachers in Europe and a cult figure here in states. I won't try to explain it anymore than that. Take a listen and let me know what you think.

Thelonious Monk: Yin/Yang at the Five Spot

Thelonious Monk
Live In New York Vol. I
(Explore Records)
Charlie Rouse (sax)
Ahmed Abudl-Malik (bass)
Roy Haynes (drums)

As some jazz fans may know, the legendary Five Spot Club in New York was the center for many a historic performances from the Thelonious Monk Quartet in 1958. A ban of performing in New York City due to a previous drug charge had been completed and Monk had just finished up a date at the Newport Jazz festival the prior month. The first dates were in August with his standing trio of Ahmed Abdul-Malik (bass), Roy Haynes (drums) adding fiery saxophonist Johnny Griffin. These dates have been preserved on two great albums In Action (OJC) and Misterioso (OJC).

In late September of '58 Monk was looking for a new saxophone player as Griffin had decided to continue on with his own band. Griffin and Sonny Rollins both told Monk to hire a young cat out of Washington D.C. named Charlie Rouse. And the rest would be history. Charlie Rouse was one of most underrated saxophonists of his generation. He melded incredibly well to Monk sometimes complex compositions.

The Five Spot would be Charlie Rouse's first performance with Thelonious Monk and it is astounding. The recording, is rough from the sound quality perspective (this would really only be for the collector) but the playing is unbelievably tight and on fire. There very few miscues that many would notice during this date. The band pushes each other to reach some incredible highs throughout the night including Monk staples "Rhythm-a-nig" and "Friday The Thirteenth". While this date is historic for being the first date of Charlie Rouse it is Roy Haynes playing that also steals the show.

Fast, slow, fast. Intense, beautiful and soaring. The album feels the way a live "bootleg" should (club noise, announcements, muffle, fizzle and a lot of talking by Monks companion at the time who recorded the date) and it's great to seat and listen to loud. I always loose myself in the sound and the atmosphere whenever I listen to it. Live In New York isn't the album I would recommend to anyone that isn't a die-hard Thelonious Monk fan; but if you are it worth seeking out and its not expensive at all. A really cool document that closes out an interesting period during '58 where Monk would meet his yin to his yang--marvelous stuff.

The footage below is much later but it highlights how well Monk and Rouse sounded together.