NEWS ARCHIVE FOR MAY 2011
Matthew Bourne Joins The Leaf Label
Published 13 May 2011 by BWL


We are delighted to welcome the award-winning musician Matthew Bourne to The Leaf Label. We've had an eye on him for a few years now, and he becomes the first Yorkshire-based artist we've worked with since we relocated to God's Own County five years ago.

In the ten years since he won the Perrier Young Jazz Award, pianist, cellist and composer Bourne has been involved in many far reaching projects, including The Electric Dr. M, jazz trio Bourne/Davis/Kane and the insanely fierce Bilbao Syndrome, as well as collaborations with a vast range of artists including Marc Ribot, John Zorn, Seaming To and Polar Bear's Pete Wareham.

Despite widespread acclaim for his emotionally and physically intense solo performances, Bourne has never released a solo studio album… until now. This new relationship with Leaf marks a significant change in direction from his previous work - stripping away technological influences and focusing on the bare potential of the instruments. We can't wait to hear what he comes up with. He is currently writing and recording new material which is planned for release later this year.

His latest project, a commission with the London Sinfonietta called 'Written/Unwritten', puts together the differing worlds of improvisation (Bourne) and composed (London Sinfonietta). The event takes place at London's Kings Place on Friday 3 June, then on Saturday 4 June he will be collaborating with The KX Collective alongside the London Sinfonietta and Paul Griffiths for a one-off performance. Find out more and book your tickets here.

Before this, Bourne performs the world premiere of 'Montauk Variations' at The Great Hall in Dartington, Devon, on May 24. Following the gig, Bourne will use this magnificent 14th Century hall to record his new album.

You can find more info on all of Bourne's forthcoming shows here.

http://www.matthewbourne.com
http://www.twitter.com/MortButane
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Matthew-Bourne/185575454825851

Polar Bear + Jyager = Jyager Bear
Published 20 May 2011 by TM


Polar Bear and Jyager, who collaborated on last year's Common Ground mini-album, will now be known as Jyager Bear, to differentiate the project from the 'regular' Polar Bear band. In future, shows featuring Jyager will be billed as Jyager Bear, though there are a handful of gigs that were booked before the name change that may still appear as Polar Bear shows. Confused? We hope you won't be...

The Jyager Bear line-up will also feature saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, playing alongside Pete Wareham. The current plan is that both Polar Bear and Jyager Bear will record new albums in the next year. In the mean time make sure you catch one of their shows over the summer (for details visit our live page).

The band recently recorded a session for The Selector, which you can find on Soundcloud.

For all your Polar Bear and Jyager Bear news, you can follow them on their new Twitter feed: @polarbear_uk. Seb still has his personal Twitter page: @polarbearseb for his other projects. Follow them both for all the news!

Don't forget that if you sign up to Polar Bear's mailing list you will receive an exclusive free Jyager Bear track, 'All Tha Time'.

In other Polar Bear-related news, drummer Sebastian Rochford releases a new album with theremin player Pamelia Kurstin on Slowfoot Records on June 13. You can pre-order the album here and listen to a track here.

polarbearmusic.com
facebook.com/sebastianrochford
twitter.com/polarbear_uk
twitter.com/polarbearseb

Efterklang's An Island Now On DVD
Published 27 May 2011 by BWL


Efterklang's feature-length film, An Island (produced in collaboration with La Blogotheque-founder Vincent Moon), is now available to pre-order on DVD and as a download. The Danish band toured Europe earlier this year, screening the film in advance of their set. Amazingly, they also managed to get got over 1000 fans to host their own screenings worldwide.

The film consists of four days of filming which saw Efterklang team up with over 200 local musicians, children and parents, recreating tracks from their back catalogue including the most recent album, Magic Chairs (4AD). The deluxe DVD package also comes with a new live EP, Live At Roskilde Festival 2010. The download is available now and operates under the 'pay what you want' system.

All details on how to get the film plus a trailer can be found here:
http://anisland.cc

http://efterklang.net