MERV

Presented by: Servant Jazz Quarters

---

0	LONDON: Servant Jazz Quarters
P	Tuesday 18th April, 2017
N	7:30pm

Event information

MERV is a band born out of the musical musings of fellow Guildhall students, Jack Yardley (Drums), Matt Gedrych (Electric Bass and Effects) and Benedict Wood (Guitar and Effects). The concept for the band arose after several rehearsals of playing largely music that was composed in the moment, an approach of playing original material with the improvisational sensibility of jazz but focusing on using melodic concepts and rhythmical styles that bore impact in our own modern lives, both socially and culturally. The songs that MERV write will often only be based on 2 to 3 compositional ideas but will allow the musicians to weave between sections freely improvising both the melodic and compositional structure of the song. During the earlier stages of the band, MERV collaborated with many different instrumentalists and singers with the intention of playing the band’s own original compositions but having different soloists have their take on it. This helped develop MERV’s function as a rhythm section that could focus on creating a tight and solid foundation in a musical setting.

After playing a gig at the LS6 Jazz Jam in Leeds with Tenor Sax player Duncan Eagles, MERV had found its ultimate sound. With combining the energy driven grooves that the band explored and the textural soundscapes provided by effected tenor saxophone, MERV had found a place combing improvisation and groove with ambient and dance-music based music. MERV is now focused on writing and recording their first album. The focus of the album will be creating a journey of short musical pieces that offer full and rich textures while being quite short recordings, demonstrating focused groove playing.