The Polite Force was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 progressive rock

Progressive rock

Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...

 / jazz fusion

Jazz fusion

Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...

 musical group, active from 1976 to 1978 in the Canterbury scene

Canterbury Scene

The Canterbury scene is a term used to loosely describe the group of progressive rock, avant-garde and jazz musicians, many of whom were based around the city of Canterbury, Kent, England during the late 1960s and early 1970s...

.

The band was formed by Mark Hewins

Mark Hewins

Mark Hewins is a British jazz guitarist known particularly for his connections to the Canterbury scene.Hewins' professional career as a guitarist began in 1970 with the London band Mother Sun...

 (guitar), Max Metto (sax), Graham Flight (bass) and Vince Clarke (drums) after about two years of recording sessions for an album by long time Caravan

Caravan (band)

Caravan are an English band from the Canterbury area, founded by former Wilde Flowers members David Sinclair, Richard Sinclair, Pye Hastings and Richard Coughlan. Caravan rose to success over a period of several years from 1968 onwards into the 1970s as part of the Canterbury scene, blending...

 keyboardist Dave Sinclair

Dave Sinclair

David Sinclair , is a keyboardist who has been part of the progressive rock Canterbury Scene...

 which remained unreleased until it was published in 1993 under the title Moon Over Man. For about one year, Sinclair was also a Polite Force member.

Together with various guest musicians, among them Richard Sinclair

Richard Sinclair

Richard S. Sinclair is a progressive rock bassist, guitarist and vocalist who has been a member of several bands of the Canterbury scene.-Biography:...

, Geoff Richardson

Geoff Richardson

Peter Geoffrey Richardson , is a viola player and multi-instrumentalist best known for his work with Caravan, Murray Head and the Penguin Cafe Orchestra.-Career:...

, Richard Coughlan

Richard Coughlan

Richard Coughlan is an English musician, best known as the drummer and percussionist of the Canterbury scene progressive rock band Caravan. He was one of the founding members of Caravan in 1968 and has remained with the band for its over 35-year existence...

 and Jan Schelhaas

Jan Schelhaas

Jan Russell Schelhaas is an English musician, mostly known as the keyboard player from the bands Caravan and Camel....

 of Caravan

Caravan (band)

Caravan are an English band from the Canterbury area, founded by former Wilde Flowers members David Sinclair, Richard Sinclair, Pye Hastings and Richard Coughlan. Caravan rose to success over a period of several years from 1968 onwards into the 1970s as part of the Canterbury scene, blending...

, Andrew Latimer

Andrew Latimer

Andrew Latimer is an English musician and one of the original members of the progressive rock band Camel. He is mainly a guitarist and singer, but also a flautist and keyboardist....

 and Andy Ward of Camel

Camel (band)

Camel are an English progressive rock band formed in 1971. An important group in the Canterbury scene, they have been releasing studio and live recordings steadily, with considerable success, since their formation.-1970s:...

, and reedsman Tony Coe

Tony Coe

Anthony George Coe is a composer and jazz musician who plays clarinet, bass clarinet, and tenor saxophone.Coe began his performing career playing with Humphrey Lyttelton's band from 1957 to 1962...

, The Polite Force performed frequently. They also recorded demos that stayed unreleased until, in 1997, Voiceprint Records

Voiceprint Records

Voiceprint Records is a company and record label based in England, founded in 1990 by Rob Ayling. They specialise in re-releasing old material, especially progressive rock, but also have new releases, all under the Voiceprint and other imprints....

 released some of them on the CD Polite Force: Canterbury Knights.

"Calyx, the Canterbury Website" describes the music: "The music is very much in the mould of late-period Soft Machine

Soft Machine

Soft Machine were an English rock band from Canterbury, named after the book The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. They were one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene, and helped pioneer the progressive rock genre...

, with Dave Sinclair playing cool and complex jazz piano, while Mark Hewins

Mark Hewins

Mark Hewins is a British jazz guitarist known particularly for his connections to the Canterbury scene.Hewins' professional career as a guitarist began in 1970 with the London band Mother Sun...

' guitar work shows why he later went on to play alongside Hugh Hopper

Hugh Hopper

Hugh Colin Hopper was a progressive rock and jazz fusion bass guitarist. He was a prominent member of the Canterbury scene, as a member of Soft Machine and various other related bands.-Early career:...

 and Elton Dean

Elton Dean

Elton Dean was an English jazz musician who performed on alto saxophone, saxello and occasionally keyboard....

 in various projects and bands (including Soft Heap

Soft Heap (band)

Soft Heap was a Canterbury scene supergroup founded in January 1978. The name references Soft Machine while "Heap" comes from the first letters of the band's founders: Hugh Hopper , Elton Dean , Alan Gowen and Pip Pyle . Hopper and Dean had worked together in Soft Machine, while Gowen and Pyle had...

 and Mashu

Mashu (band)

Mashu was a Canterbury scene improvisational supergroup that lasted from 1995 to 1998. The name is a reference to Mashu and a play on the three band members' names: Hugh Hopper , Mark Hewins and Shyamal Maïtra .Hopper and Hewins had alreay been collaborating as a duo when they were joined by...

) as well as being a founding member of Richard Sinclair's Caravan Of Dreams

Caravan of Dreams (band)

Caravan of Dreams were a British progressive rock band from the Canterbury scene. Led by Richard Sinclair, it evolved from the short-lived Going Going.-Going Going:...

."

Discography

• Canterbury Knights (released 1997, recorded 1976-7) (Dutch wikipedia)