WVC - Malaysian Jazz Ensemble

Drawing inspiration from the many facets of modern life, influenced by Malaysian and other Asian cultures, the music of WVC cuts across many musical genres and defies any kind of classification. Tunes such as “The Art of the Wind Up Alarm Clock”, “Found and Lost”, “Standing in the Rain on Euclid Avenue” tries to examine and express the human condition in modern life, using the artform known as "jazz" as its stylistic musical vehicle. Formed in 2006 as a trio, WVC completed its quartet line up with the addition of saxophonist Julian Chan. The group has toured extensively in the region, heralding back the spirit being "on the road" of touring jazz bands of old. Through these regional tours, WVC has brought its music to many corners of Malaysia, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Thailand, and Macao. In one of these tours, the quartet managed to travel extensively over 18 cities within a month, using different means of transportation, playing in many different types of venues. WVC has five instrumental albums - “WVC TRiO” (2008), “ELEVEN” (2009), “In the Dark, I See Her” (2011), "Waiting For That Day" (2014) and "Do Not Go Gently" (2016) - that explored different musical genres (while maintaining the spirit of jazz as its core) and combinations in its line-up. Most of the tunes recorded are original tunes written by the band members. In addition, the band also experiments with transforming unlikely pop tunes, Chinese classics, and many mainstream music into new jazz re-arrangements, in the spirit of the great jazz musicians of old. WVC has been invited to appear in many festivals in the region such as Taichung Jazz Festival, Kota Kinabalu Jazz Festival, Phuket International Jazz Festival, Tianjin International Jazz Fest, Macao International Jazz Week and many others. In addition, the band has played extensively in the Malaysian local jazz clubs, from No Black Tie, Nero Fico, (the now defunct) Venue, and many others. The present incarnation of the WVC consists of bandleader/composer/arranger/music director/pianist Tay Cher Siang, bassist AJ, drummer KJ Wong and saxophonist Julian Chan. The band remains one of the most active units in the Malaysian performance circuit and is one of the most sought after bands in Malaysia for Hi-Fi recordings and live performances. WVC was nominated 10 times in the Kakiseni-Boh Cameronian Arts Awards in 2016, and won three awards. Malaysian jazz outfit with multiple influences. WVC is Tay Cher Siang (piano), Julian Chan (saxophones), AJ Popshuvit (bass), KJ Wong (drums)