''Held on the Tips of Fingers'' is the second album by Sebastian Rochford's British jazz band

Polar Bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...

Background

''Held on the Tips of Fingers'' was released in 2005 on Babel Label and later re-released by

The Leaf Label The Leaf Label is a British independent record label based in Yorkshire, England. Initially an electronic music label, releasing mainly instrumental music, the company's approach now features artists spanning jazz and post-punk. History The Le ...

in 2014. This album sees Polar Bear's original line up augmented by London-based electronic artist, songwriter and producer

Leafcutter John Leafcutter John is the recording name of John Burton, a UK-based musician and artist. He makes frequent use of Max/MSP in his compositions. Much of Burton's style is based in computer music and use of samples of everyday sounds. However, he a ...

, who has played a distinctive role in shaping the group's later albums.

Critical reception

''Held on the Tips of Fingers'' received strong reviews in the UK press and was called "a highly creative successor to the equally distinctive ''

Dim Lit ''Dim Lit'' is the debut album by British jazz band Polar Bear, formed and led by drummer Sebastian Rochford. Background Polar Bear were awarded Best Band at the BBC Jazz Awards 2004, giving ''Dim Lit'' a platform for small scale success. It wa ...

''" by The Guardian and "an even more thrilling and momentous affair than its predecessor…..radical, invigorating and heartening" in All About Jazz. Observer Music Monthly placed the album at number 12 in its list of the "Top 100 Albums of 2005" and Jazzwise placed the record at 100 in the article "100 Jazz Albums That Shook The World". They called

Rochford Rochford is a town in Essex, England, north of Southend-on-Sea, from London and from Chelmsford, the county town. At the 2011 census, the Civil parishes in England, civil parish, which includes the town and London Southend Airport, had a popu ...

"the most gifted jazz drummer of his generation" and described the music on the record as "sublimely original chamber music" and "groundbreaking". The success of ''Held on the Tips of Fingers'' led to Polar Bear being shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize in 2005, about which Rochford said "I feel really privileged, it's an honour, especially as it's such a big field, not a genre-specific thing." This nomination and its ensuing publicity enabled the band to reach a far wider audience than they had been able to previously.

Track listing

All music written by Rochford

Personnel

Pete Wareham Pete Wareham is a British saxophonist, composer and band leader. He leads the genre-defying North African/punk/jazz/dance band Melt Yourself Down and is a member of Nadine Shah’s Mercury Prize-nominated band, Seb Rochford’s Pulled By Magnet ...

— tenor saxophone *

Mark Lockheart Mark Lockheart (born 31 March 1961) is a British jazz tenor saxophonist who was a member of the Loose Tubes big band during the 1980s. Career After the demise of Loose Tubes, Lockheart formed jazz/folk quartet Perfect Houseplants with Huw Warr ...

— tenor saxophone * Sebastian Rochford -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Tom Herbert - double bass *

- electronics ;Additional musicians *

Jonny Phillips Jonny Phillips may refer to: *Jonny Phillips (actor) (1963), English actor *Jonny Phillips (musician) Jonny Phillips (born 11 January 1971, in Kendal, Westmorland, England) is an English jazz guitarist and composer. He played the violin and stu ...

- guitar (track 2) *Joe Bentley - trombone (track 2) *Emma Smith - violin (track 2) * Ingrid Laubrock - tenor saxophone (3, 9) *Hannah Marshall - cello (track 3) *Greta Lange - vocals

References

{{Authority control 2005 albums Polar Bear (British band) albums Instrumental albums The Leaf Label albums