Led Bib

...e jazz ensemble Led Bib are a progressive, stylistically varied group touching on everything from swinging post-bop to skronky free jazz and a healthy dose of neo-prog and noise rock. The group first emerged with 2005's Arboretum and gained wider recognition with 2009's Mercury Prize-nominated Sensible Shoes. They continued to expand their sound, issuing genre-bending albums like 2014's The Good Egg and 2017's Umbrella Weather. In 2025 they issued Hotel Pupik, their debut as a quartet. Formed in 2003 by drummer/composer Mark Holub (with the band's first gig in February of the following year), Led Bib also features bassist Liran Donin, keyboardist Toby McLaren, and alto saxophonists Pete Grogan and Chris Williams. Drawing on such inspirations as Ornette Coleman, avant-garde firebrand John Zorn, free jazz icon Sun Ra, and even '60s psych rocker Captain Beefheart, Led Bib released their debut album, Arboretum, on Slam in 2005. The band's sophomore album, Sizewell Ten, dropped in 2007 on Babel. Since 2005, the group has logged some high-profile gigs, including a one-hour live broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and an appearance at the North Sea Jazz Festival. Led Bib released their third studio effort, Sensible Shoes, on Cuneiform in 2009; it was short-listed for the Mercury Prize. In celebration of the group's tenth anniversary, Cuneiform issued two Led Bib titles in May, 2014: The People in Your Neighbourhood and the limited-edition vinyl-only LP The Good Egg, the latter recorded live at two London shows in 2013. In early 2017, Led Bib issued Umbrella Weather, their debut for RareNoise Records; McLaren left after its support tour. Two years later, Led Bib released the collaborative multimedia project, It's Morning with Elliot Galvin in the keyboard chair. It also included songs with vocals, courtesy of Sharron Fortnam and Jack Hues. Adding to the instrumental core were bass clarinetist Susanna Gartmayer, violinist Irene Kepl, and cellist Noid (Arnold Haberl). In addition to the music, the package contained an accompanying film directed by Dylan Pecora. When the band promoted the album, they did so as a quartet. After 20 years as a quintet, their sound underwent a transformation, due to the trial and error of some of those early gigs. Following several stints of international touring, Led Bib hunkered down and reworked their approach to writing for quartet. Fully revisioning their collective approach, the band forged a new, more melodic but still powerful sound. They returned to Cuneiform and recorded 2025's Hotel Pupik without guests or a keyboardist, and released it in August 2025. ~ Matt Collar