º£½ÇÊÓƵ

It’s hard to believe, but one of British jazz’s most innovative and distinctive bands is 10 years old. Polar Bear, led by drummer Sebastian Rochford, has toured extensively over this decade and released its fifth recording at the beginning of the month. The band is at the tonight.

Polar Bear is on the surface a twin-tenor saxophone, bass, drums and electronics quintet, but that doesn’t begin to give any idea of what the band sounds like.

It might have started out with distinctive, slightly mournful two-horn harmonies over a sometimes circus-band beat, but with the creativity of Rochford, bassist Tom Herbert, saxophonists Mark Lockheart and Pete Wareham augmented by the sound manipulation of multi-instrumentalist Leafcutter John and moving inexorably forward it was never going to stay like that.

The music on the latest release, In Each And Every One, the band’s first since 2010, shows the most dramatic leap yet. Conventional band roles are played with, and Rochford is often adding decoration around the edges to beats laid down by Leafcutter John.

Providing support on this will be Birmingham-based bassist Chris Mapp and his band Gonimoblast. The band shares a Polar Bear band-member in Leafcutter John and is completed by Sam Wooster on trumpet, Dan Nicholls on keyboards and Mark Sanders on drums.

An electrifying night is assured, the fun starts at 8.30pm, tickets are £12 and there is more at

* Tomorrow the second of the Fellowship showcases features saxophonist Lluis Mather. Over the past year Lluis has been developing his music for a larger ensemble and his core quartet with Holly Thomas on vocals, and Euan Palmer on drums is augmented not only by fellow tenor saxophonist Julian Siegel but also, for part of the programme, by a wind quartet of flute, clarinet, oboe and bassoon.

Mather, a graduate, is a familiar figure on the Birmingham jazz scene, not only leading his own bands but as a sideman in many others.