Alex Merritt//Steve Fishwick Quintet

'Mind-Ear-Ladder' Album Launch

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Last Show: Wednesday 9 th February 2022

PizzaExpress Jazz Club (Soho)

Alex Merritt and Steve Fishwick launch their new album “Ear-Mind-Ladder” released on the Spanish label Fresh Sound. The group takes the classic tenor and trumpet led quintet format and creates a contemporary jazz aesthetic whilst being strongly influenced by the jazz tradition.  Alex and Steve’s shared appreciation for artists such as Warne Marsh and Joe Henderson were common ground for forming this group: forward thinking musicians and composers with strong ties to the tradition. The band will feature John Turville on Piano, Mick Coady on bass and Matt Fishwick on drums.

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"Merritt's rich but dry tone traces a line back to the Cool School jazzers such as Warne Marsh."

Robert Shore, Jazzwise

Perhaps unspoken, as some of the best ambitions often are, Alex and Steve wanted to work towards a collective contemporary jazz aesthetic and approach that had space for its own sounds and language yet remained strongly influenced by the jazz tradition.

Alex and Steve consider writing music for musicians they are inspired by a joy and a privilege, and when these musicians are also great friends, it is fertile ground to create an environment for good music making. The culmination of the group’s efforts so far is album ‘Ear-Mind-Ladder’, newly released on the Fresh Sound label.

The title of the album, 'Mind-Ear-Ladder' is an effort to describe a process of thought becoming sound, and the ladder that must inevitably be climbed in the development of the mind, and person, in order to actualise this.  To extend the analogy further- sometimes we might feel like this process of becoming is effortless and sometimes it might feel more arduous. But, to be sure, we are somewhere on this ladder at all times and this album title attempts to represent this continuum.

This band was formed in 2014 out of existing musical friendships between Alex (tenor saxophone), John Turville (piano) and brothers Steve and Matt Fishwick (trumpet and drums respectively). The fantastic Mick Coady (bass) completes the quintet line-up. Alex first met and started playing with Steve at Ronnie Scott's, around 2013, and put this group together to strengthen the strong musical relationship that was developing there.  When two of the most respected improvisers on the London jazz scene join forces with a top flight rhythm section, sparks are bound to fly.

Band Line Up

Alex Merritt (tenor saxophone)

Steve Fishwick (trumpet)

John Turville (piano)

Mick Coady (bass)

Matt Fishwick (drums)