Méva's Journal

As the brain-child of drummer, composer and bandleader Evan J. Evans, Mèva’s Journal has been a long time in the making. Evan had been working with and starting many projects throughout all forms of jazz and jazz-adjacent music, until he finally decided it was time to build what to him was the perfect band to explore the music of his mind.

Mèva’s Journal explores different sounds of the ’60s hard bop scene. A big and early inspiration to Evan has always been Thelonious Monk, being exposed to Monk in his first year at the esteemed Jazz Music Institute (JMI). Through Monk he found himself finding more people that he would come to look up to such as Eric Dolphy, Freddie Redd, Horace Silver, Bud Powell and Elmo Hope.

Evan J. Evans

Drums / Musical Director

Jordan Stitt

Piano

Alex Askew

Double Bass

Chris James

Alto Saxophone

Tyger Middleton

Tenor Saxophone

Alyssa Sinclair

Trumpet

Press Reviews

Méva's Journal: Chimera
By James Aren, November 22, 2024
AllAboutJazz.com

Straight from Australia, sounding like New York in 1960, Meva’s Journal plays it mostly old school, with an interesting twist.

On Chimera, this hard-bop band swings in all the right places. The band, led by Evan J. Evans, lists Thelonious Monk as their major influence, and it is easy to hear. The band features Tyger Middleton on tenor saxophone and Chis James on alto saxophone; they sound great while trading solos, especially when playing lines in tandem. With Alex Asker adeptly walking his bass and composer and drummer Evans riding the high hats, it is a tight unit. The group formed at Jazz Music Institute in Brisbane Australia and is well versed in jazz fundamentals.

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