Coming up at St James: Real time storytelling with the New Movement Ensemble

Thursday 14 March 2024

New Movement Ensemble are coming to tell stories.

They give a sense of musicians pushing outwards, exploring, something of a reflection of the journey their leader Matt Gedrych has been on himself as he moved away from the traditional grounding of a musical education.

There is jazz there, but it is music that embraces so much more, with melodicism, improvisation and groove at its core.

"I wanted to get out of that box a little bit, I think I was in a certain mindset about how music was written, how a band functions," Matt said of his career over the last decade.

"I think there has been a journey in terms of my own discovery of what I really want to create, a journey of finding your own sound. It was this interesting thing of going quite far with jazz music in an educational sense, playing it and working with loads of different musicians and then also keying in on myself, growing older, looking in and reconnecting with some of the things that I loved as a kid or things that weren't, you know, part of my curriculum or my education."

Storytelling is a big focus, but don't expect a straightforward verbal narrative when they take to the St James stage, the vast majority of the music is instrumental.

"It's very obvious what a story might be if there are lyrics.

"But if there aren't lyrics, then maybe it's a bit different and maybe the type of story I can tell is a bit different. Maybe I have more options.

"I like to think the stories in an instrumental song are less of a verbatim 'this happened, and that happened, and this happened'. I feel like this is a bit more like a snapshot of a time and of a place."

Many of the songs are about his life.

Pictured: New Movement Ensemble. Pic by Liam Prior.

"That's what I can most authentically talk about. Some of these things that happened in my life are totally relatable to everybody. Stories about just growing older.

"Understanding responsibility, you know, taking care of those you love and your family.

"A lot of the music that we have released already on the album Never Far From Home is really about my journey to London, and studying in London and creating a family here, creating a home here."

Never Far From Home reflects an initial imprint of the band.

It was recorded six years ago at the legendary Total Refreshment Centre, but wasn't released until November 2021.

One of the factors in that was the pandemic slowing down the momentum of the album.

Having not been able to set up the traditional roots of releasing a record, it was self-released online.

"I just wanted to get it out there so I could move on."

The group have now finished recording a follow up at the same studio.

But it is in a live setting where things flourish.

"That's where you get to show the audience the energy, the creation and the spirit behind music. Like a lot of jazz music, there's more improvisation live, there's a bit more risk taking so different things can happen.

"And the more and more we perform live, the more and more comfortable we are taking certain sections, and messing with it and adding different things. For me, the live performance is where really we take it to how it wants to be presented in a way."

There is an unsurpassed joy in bringing their music to new audiences.

"I see what music can mean in communities and do for people and how it can touch people."

The journey continues.

Matt described a point where he could have become insane at how many times he listened to his own music while recording the last record, so he would write more.

"Sometimes I surprise myself with how much more I think I can learn and how much deeper I can go. So I think the music will always be evolving like that. I'm going to try and just express my authentic self using the music that I love."

New Movement Ensemble play at St James on Friday 15 March with doors opening at 7pm.