Edgar Meyer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Edgar Meyer | |
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 Meyer with his double bass.
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Edgar Meyer |
| Born | November 24, 1960 |
| Origin | Oak Ridge, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | Classical Bluegrass Progressive bluegrass Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician Composer |
| Instrument(s) | Double Bass Piano Guitar Banjo Violin Mandolin Dobro |
| Label(s) | Sony Deutsche Grammophon Sugar Hill |
| Associated acts | Nickel Creek |
| Website | edgarmeyer.com |
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. His collaborators have spanned a wide range of musical styles and talents; among them are Joshua Bell, Yo-Yo Ma, Béla Fleck, Sam Bush, James Taylor, Jerry Douglas, Mike Marshall, Mark O'Connor, Alison Krauss, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and the trio Nickel Creek.
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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 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.
In2000, he won the Avery Fisher Prize, given once every few years to classical instrumentalists for outstanding achievement. 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, viola da gamba, mandolin and dobro. Meyer's son, George is in the breakthrough band The Horror!
[edit] Discography
[edit] Sony Classical
2006
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
- Listen to the Storyteller
- Short Trip Home (Grammy nominated)
- At the Octoroon Balls
1997
1996
[edit] Deutsche Grammophon
- Meyer: Quintet; Rorem: String Quartet
[edit] MCA Master Series
- Unfolding
- Dreams of Flight
- Love of a Lifetime
- Work In Progress
- The Telluride Sessions
[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
