Edgar Meyer

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Edgar Meyer with his double bass
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Edgar Meyer with his double bass

Edgar Meyer (born November 24, 1960) is a prominent contemporary bassist. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. Meyer has worked as a session musician in Nashville, part of various chamber groups, a composer, and an arranger.

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[edit] Biography

Meyer grew up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He learned to play the double bass from his father, the late Edgar Meyer, Sr., who directed the string orchestra program for the local public school system. Meyer later went on to Indiana University to study with Stuart Sankey. [1]

Meyer is noted for achieving virtuosity on an instrument of unusual technical difficulty. His skill has allowed him to perform difficult music originally composed for other instruments, as in his recordings of Bach's unaccompanied cello suites. Meyer frequently records and performs with other outstanding artists, including: Joshua Bell, Yo-Yo Ma, Béla Fleck, Sam Bush, James Taylor, Jerry Douglas, Mike Marshall, Mark O'Connor, Alison Krauss and Mary Chapin Carpenter.

Meyer has also composed a number of works that break the traditional mold of classical music, including two double bass concertos, a double concerto for bass and cello, and a violin concerto composed specifically for Hilary Hahn.

His collaborations have been nominated for, and awarded, several Grammys. In 2002, he was named a MacArthur Fellow.

On Meyer's self-titled 2006 Sony Classical release, he performs accompanied only by himself on a wide variety of instruments besides his usual piano and double bass, including guitar, banjo, violin, mandolin and dobro.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Sony Classical

2006

  • Edgar Meyer

2004

2002

  • Meyer, Bottesini: Concertos
  • Silk Road Journeys: When Strangers Meet

2001

2000

  • Bach: Unaccompanied Cello Suites Performed on Double Bass
  • Appalachian Journey Live in Concert (VHS and DVD)
  • Appalachian Journey (Grammy)

1999

1997

1996

[edit] Deutsche Grammophon

  • Meyer: Quintet; Rorem: String Quartet

[edit] MCA Master Series

[edit] Sugar Hill Records

  • Skip, Hop, and Wobble

[edit] Previously Released Material

  • Beautiful Dreamer: The Songs of Stephen Foster
  • Classic Yo-Yo
  • Classical Hits
  • Heartland: An Appalachian Anthology

[edit] External links

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