| Held on the Tips of Fingers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 21 March 2005 | |||
| Recorded | Snake Ranch and Exchange Studios | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 37:00 | |||
| Label | Babel Label and The Leaf Label (2014 re-issue) | |||
| Producer | Sebastian Rochford, Robert Harder, Oliver Weindling | |||
| Polar Bear chronology | ||||
| ||||
Held on the Tips of Fingers is the second album by Sebastian Rochford's British jazz band Polar Bear.
Held on the Tips of Fingers was released in 2005 on Babel Label and later re-released by The Leaf Label in 2014. [1] This album sees Polar Bear's original line up augmented by London-based electronic artist, songwriter and producer Leafcutter John, who has played a distinctive role in shaping the group's later albums.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| All About Jazz |  [2] |
| The Guardian |  [3] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [4] |
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 " [3] by The Guardian and "an even more thrilling and momentous affair than its predecessor…..radical, invigorating and heartening" [2] in All About Jazz.
Observer Music Monthly placed the album at number 12 in its list of the "Top 100 Albums of 2005" [5] and Jazzwise placed the record at 100 in the article "100 Jazz Albums That Shook The World". They called Rochford "the most gifted jazz drummer of his generation" and described the music on the record as "sublimely original chamber music" and "groundbreaking". [6]
The success of Held on the Tips of Fingers led to Polar Bear being shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize in 2005, [7] 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." [8] This nomination and its ensuing publicity enabled the band to reach a far wider audience than they had been able to previously.
All music written by Rochford
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Was Dreaming You Called, You Disappeared I Slept" | 2:09 |
| 2. | "Beartown" | 5:54 |
| 3. | "Fluffy (I Want You)" | 5:17 |
| 4. | "To Touch The Red Brick" | 2:51 |
| 5. | "Held on the Tips of Fingers" | 5:16 |
| 6. | "Argumentative" | 4:06 |
| 7. | "Your Eyes, The Sea" | 3:19 |
| 8. | "The King of Aberdeen" | 5:56 |
| 9. | "Life That Ends So Soon" | 3:42 |
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 also has roots as a folk musician, and this influence is apparent in his more recent work.
Last Chance Disco is the second studio album by British punk jazz band Acoustic Ladyland. It was released on 16 May 2005 by Babel Label.
Alfred James Ellis, known as Pee Wee Ellis due to his diminutive stature, was an American saxophonist, composer, and arranger. With a background in jazz, he was a member of James Brown's band in the 1960s, appearing on many of Brown's recordings and co-writing hits like "Cold Sweat" and "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud". He also worked with Van Morrison.
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 led the genre-defying North African/punk/jazz/dance band Melt Yourself Down and was 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 and flute with The Smile, Sons Of Kemet, Mica Levi, James Chance, Supergrass, Ben E King.
Kit Downes is a BBC Jazz Award winning, Mercury Music Award nominated, solo recording artist for ECM Records.
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.
Recorded Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival is a live album by saxophonist John Handy, recorded in 1965 and released in 1966. It is Handy's most famous album and his debut on Columbia. The original album only features two long instrumental pieces, notable for their "free form", a peculiar use of harmonies and unusual instruments. The bonus track "Tears of Ole Miss ", which was added to the now out-of-print 1996 CD edition, was originally featured on New View!.
Chambers' Music is the debut album by jazz bassist Paul Chambers. It was released in September 1956 on the Jazz West label. It features Chambers with his Miles Davis bandmates, tenor saxophonist John Coltrane and drummer Philly Joe Jones, along with pianist Kenny Drew, and baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams and trombonist Curtis Fuller on three tracks.
Melt Yourself Down are a London-based band who incorporate elements of West African musical styles (afrobeat), punk, jazz and funk. Founded in January 2012, the band is led by saxophonist Pete Wareham, former leader of now defunct jazz/punk band Acoustic Ladyland and saxophonist in British jazz band Polar Bear. The original line-up included saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, drummer Tom Skinner, vocalist Kushal Gaya, bassist Ruth Goller and percussionist Satin Singh.
Journey to the One is a double album led by saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, recorded in 1979 and released on the Theresa label.
Melt Yourself Down is the debut album of the London-based band of the same name.
Dim Lit is the debut album by British jazz band Polar Bear, formed and led by drummer Sebastian Rochford.
Polar Bear is the 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.
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.
Surrounded by Sea is an album by British saxophonist and composer Andy Sheppard recorded in Switzerland in 2014 and released on the ECM label the following year.
