Edgar Meyer
The masterful skills of Edgar Meyer -- whether as bassist or composer in bluegrass, classical, or a mix of genres -- earned him a MacArthur Genius Grant in 2002, but that is not the only accomplishment of this remarkable musician. Following his initial emergence in the late '80s, Meyer rose to acclaim with his solo albums and collaborations with his similarly inclined contemporaries banjo player Béla Fleck, dobroist Jerry Douglas, and violinist Mark O'Connor. He has five Grammy Awards to his name, including three for albums with mandolin player Chris Thile, 2000's Appalachian Journey, 2011's Goat Rodeo Sessions with Yo-Yo Ma, and 2014's Bass & Mandolin. The latter two also cracked the Top Five of the Billboard 200 chart. He has also collaborated on projects with such luminaries as Joshua Bell, Zakir Hussain, Hilary Hahn, Sam Bush, Emanuel Ax, and many others, including bassist Christian McBride, who joined him for 2024's But Who's Gonna Play the Melody?. Along with performing, Meyer is also a highly regarded teacher who holds the position of Artist in Residence at Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music and is on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music.
A native of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Meyer always credits his father, a high-school string music director, as his first teacher, and he picked up his first real bass -- which had previously served as a flower planter -- at the age of five. He would go on to study at Indiana University and the Aspen Music School with Stuart Stankey and James Buswell. It was Stankey, he says, who showed him how to make the double bass his own, and it was in Aspen where Meyer connected with Béla Fleck. (Meyer also met his wife in the Aspen School's orchestra.)
Fleck introduced Meyer to dobroist Jerry Douglas and violinist Mark O'Connor. After assisting Meyer on his first four albums, all four of them, plus mandolinist Sam Bush, formed Strength in Numbers, generally classified as a bluegrass group, but going beyond that sound. Their willingness to explore and create new and distinctive styles, as well as his musicianship, is what has always drawn other musicians and audiences to Meyer's music. During the '80s, artists such as Garth Brooks, Emmylou Harris, the Indigo Girls, the Chieftains, Elton John, and others sought out Meyer for their own albums. At the same time, Meyer became recognized among traditional classical circles as a rare virtuoso of the small and ignored double bass repertoire, and earned an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1994.
Meyer's own music is an organic combination of written and improvised sections, fusing folk, jazz, and classical styles into something new. Professional collaborations bring out the best of his work, with album after album garnering critical praise. Appalachia Waltz and Appalachian Journey, his two albums with O'Connor and Yo-Yo Ma, topped charts and best-of lists. Appalachian Journey won a Grammy Award, and the three artists appeared on Late Night with David Letterman. In 2011, Ma and Meyer joined with mandolinist Chris Thile (another MacArthur genius) for The Goat Rodeo Sessions. Meyer and Thile have also released two successful duet albums (2008 and 2014) and toured together, which is something Meyer often does when he finds a winning combination of colleagues.
Meyer worked with Fleck and Zakir Hussain to write a triple concerto and other pieces for double bass, banjo, and tabla, and with Joshua Bell for Meyer's Concerto for double bass and violin. His concerto for violinist Hilary Hahn is a rare work written for a single instrument and not the bass. Others Meyer has worked with include Mike Marshall and Emanuel Ax. Meyer still performs solo recitals with his longtime pianist Amy Dorfman, in programs featuring classical works alongside his own music, and he continues his relationship with Aspen, returning each year to mentor new students himself. Meyer once again collaborated with Yo-Yo Ma and Chris Thile for Bach: Trios, an album of new arrangements of J.S. Bach keyboard pieces released in April 2017. All three were also together, along with violinist Stuart Duncan, for 2020's Not Our First Goat Rodeo, the follow-up to their Grammy-winning 2011 collaboration The Goat Rodeo Sessions. But Who's Gonna Play the Melody?, a duet collaboration with bassist Christian McBride, arrived in March 2024.
© Patsy Morita /TiVo
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But Who's Gonna Play the Melody?
Christian McBride, Edgar Meyer
Jazz - Released by Mack Avenue Records on 22 mrt. 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
As We Speak
Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Zakir Hussain
Klassiek - Released by Béla Fleck Productions on 12 mei 2023
Grammy Awards Best Contemporary Instrumental Album24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bach Trios
Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile, Edgar Meyer
Klassiek - Released by Nonesuch on 7 apr. 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Goat Rodeo Sessions
Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile
Klassiek - Released by Sony Classical on 18 okt. 2011
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Not Our First Goat Rodeo
Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile
Klassiek - Released by Sony Classical on 19 jun. 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bass & Mandolin (MQ Stereo)
Klassiek - Released by Nonesuch on 9 sep. 2014
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music For Two (Live)
Klassiek - Released by Sony Classical on 27 apr. 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Goat Rodeo Sessions Live EP (Live)
Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile
Klassiek - Released by Sony Classical on 24 okt. 2011
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Uncommon Ritual
Edgar Meyer, Béla Fleck, Mike Marshall
Klassiek - Released by Sony Classical on 14 aug. 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach Trios
Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile, Edgar Meyer
Klassiek - Released by Nonesuch on 7 apr. 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bass & Mandolin
Klassiek - Released by Nonesuch on 9 sep. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Unaccompanied Cello Suites Performed on Double Bass
Klassiek - Released by Sony Classical on 30 aug. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Best of Edgar Meyer
Klassiek - Released by Sony Classical on 3 sep. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Edgar Meyer
Klassiek - Released by Sony Classical on 25 apr. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Owl’s Misfortune
Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Zakir Hussain
Klassiek - Released by Béla Fleck Productions on 3 mrt. 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Motion
Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Zakir Hussain
Klassiek - Released by Béla Fleck Productions on 21 apr. 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 645
Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile, Edgar Meyer
Klassiek - Released by Nonesuch on 23 mrt. 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Meyer: Quintet / Rorem: Quartet
Emerson String Quartet, Edgar Meyer
Klassiek - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 jan. 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Trio Sonata No. 6 in G Major, BWV 530: I. Vivace
Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile, Edgar Meyer
Klassiek - Released by Nonesuch on 10 feb. 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Concert Duo for Violin & Bass: IV. Finale
Klassiek - Released by First Hand Records on 4 dec. 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Why Only One? / Tarnation
Klassiek - Released by Nonesuch on 9 sep. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo