Gwyneth Herbert is a British singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. Initially known for her interpretation of jazz and swing standards, she is now established as a writer of original compositions, including musical theatre. She has been described as "an exquisite wordsmith" with "a voice that can effortlessly render any emotion with commanding ease" and her songs as being "impressively crafted and engrossing vignette[s] of life's more difficult moments".
Polar Bear is a British experimental jazz band led by drummer Seb Rochford with Pete Wareham and Mark Lockheart on tenor saxophone, Tom Herbert on double bass and Leafcutter John on electronics and occasionally guitar or mandolin.
Sebastian Rochford is a British drummer and composer. He has recorded and released music as leader of the British band Polar Bear, as Kutcha Butcha and as part of numerous collaborations.
Mark Lockheart is a British jazz tenor saxophonist who was a member of the Loose Tubes big band during the 1980s.
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 Magnets and also ran the influential group Acoustic Ladyland. Formerly of Rochford’s now disbanded Mercury Prize-nominated Polar Bear, Wareham has also played saxophone with Sons Of Kemet, Mica Levi, James Chance, Supergrass, Ben E King.
Jonny Phillips is an English jazz guitarist and composer. He played the violin and studied theory from the age of five, however he swapped to guitar at fifteen to study jazz, Brazilian and African music. After his studies at Newcastle College of Music, Phillips moved to London where he set up his group Oriole, with whom he has released three albums on the F-IRE Collective label. Oriole is perhaps one of the few groups to feature two Mercury nominated artists: Ben Davis on cello and Seb Rochford on drums. Phillips is now based in South London after three and a half years living in Andalusia, Spain.
All the Ghosts, the fifth album by British singer-songwriter Gwyneth Herbert, was released by Naim Edge in the United Kingdom in 2009 and in the United States in 2010. It was critically acclaimed, and received four-starred reviews from The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and Metro.
The Sea Cabinet is a song cycle and musical theatre piece by British singer-songwriter Gwyneth Herbert about "memory, obsession, love, and the sea". It is also the title of her sixth album, featuring a studio performance of the song cycle, which was released on 20 May 2013 and was critically acclaimed, receiving four-starred reviews in The Financial Times and The Independent and a 4.5-starred review in All About Jazz. The music's sound has been described as a blend of "Weimar cabaret and English music-hall stylings, with disquieting touches of avant-garde jazz".
Fiona Mackay Barclay Bevan is an English singer-songwriter from Suffolk, who currently lives in London. She is noted for co-writing the song "Little Things" with Ed Sheeran which became a number-one single in 13 countries for One Direction, and for which Bevan and Sheeran received a BMI award.
Bittersweet and Blue, the second album by British singer-songwriter Gwyneth Herbert, was released in 2004 on the Universal Classics and Jazz label. It comprised mainly jazz standards. Herbert's version of Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart", taken from the album, was featured on the soundtrack of romantic comedy Leap Year, directed by Anand Tucker and starring Amy Adams and Matthew Goode. The album received a four-starred review in The Guardian.
First Songs, initially credited to "Gwyn and Will", is the debut album of British singer-songwriter Gwyneth Herbert and composer and acoustic guitarist Will Rutter. Comprising both original songs and standards, it was launched at London's Pizza Express Jazz Club in September 2003. The Herbert/Rutter song "Sweet Insomnia" featured guest vocals from Jamie Cullum.
Clangers and Mash is an EP by British singer-songwriter Gwyneth Herbert. It was released on 1 November 2010 and was critically acclaimed, receiving a four-starred review from The Guardian.
Dim Lit is the debut album by British jazz band Polar Bear, formed and led by drummer Sebastian Rochford.
Polar Bear is the eponymous third album by Sebastian Rochford's British jazz band, Polar Bear.
Peepers is the fourth album by Sebastian Rochford's British jazz band Polar Bear.
Held on the Tips of Fingers is the second album by Sebastian Rochford's British jazz band Polar Bear.
In Each and Every One is the fifth album by Sebastian Rochford's British jazz band Polar Bear.
Same as You is the sixth studio album by British jazz band Polar Bear. It was released on 30 March 2015 by The Leaf Label.
D'Ranged is the third album by British jazz pianist Janette Mason. It was released in 2014 by Fireball Records and features vocalists Gwyneth Herbert, David McAlmont, Vula Malinga, Claire Martin and Tatiana LadyMay Mayfield. It has been described as "a series of arrangements of an eclectic mix of classic soul songs, 70’s disco and 80’s pop tunes... all given a distinctive twist by arranger and pianist Mason, and performed by a stellar cast of collaborators from her wide ranging career." Jazz critic John Fordham gave it four stars in a review for The Guardian.
Letters I Haven't Written, the seventh album by British singer-songwriter Gwyneth Herbert, was released on 12 October 2018. It was produced at Rockfield Studios, Monmouth and, like Herbert's previous album The Sea Cabinet, was crowdfunded. The songs on the album, all written by Herbert, have been described as "exquisitely crafted". On the subjects of "love, gratitude and protest", they are about the lost art of letterwriting. Reviewing the album for Jazzwise magazine, Peter Quinn said that "Letters I Haven't Written is by turns moving, thrilling and entrancing".
