POLAR BEAR at the Rex (194 Queen West), Friday (September 18), 9:45 pm. 416-598-2475.
Seb Rochford is an extremely busy drummer, which might explain why he sounds so dazed when asked about his critically acclaimed futuristic jazz outfit, Polar Bear. Hell, he doesn’t even seem sure how many other bands he currently plays with.
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“Quite a few at the moment,” he laughs from his home base in London, UK, avoiding giving an actual number.
He’s played everything from conventional jazz to far-out experimental music to straight-up pop, and jammed with everyone from Herbie Hancock to Pete Doherty to Brian Eno.
This eclecticism has enabled him to make a mark outside the traditional jazz scene. Polar Bear’s second album and another project, Basquiat Strings With Seb Rochford, were nominated for Mercury Prizes, an honour usually reserved for indie acts with pop crossover appeal.
No wonder you see critics using awkward fusion terms like dream jazz and post-jazz to describe Polar Bear.
“I see it as jazz. To me, jazz is music with improvisation. I just try to follow whatever comes into my head.
“That’s probably why we get a real mix of people at our gigs, something I really like. You get people from 18 to 65, people who are into jazz, some who aren’t.”
As strange as the five-piece’s jams are, they’re conservative when you consider Rochford’s original concept for the project back in 2004.
“At the time, I was listening to grindcore and death metal and was really into hip-hop. I wanted to bring all of that into jazz. Obviously, Polar Bear doesn’t sound like grindcore, but it has some of that darkness.”
benjaminb@nowtoronto.com
