Jazz Articles about Nicolas Meier
About Nicolas Meier
Instrument: Guitar, acoustic
Article Coverage | Calendar | Albums | Photos | Similar ArtistsNicolas Meier World Group: Peaceful
by Mark Sullivan
London-based Swiss guitarist Nicolas Meier (heard mainly on nylon string guitar here) leads his World Group quartet in a program of his compositions. The group is well named, as Meier takes inspiration from all over the world; Turkish music, Middle Eastern music, samba, flamenco and tango all mix with jazz in this sound. “Besiktas Cafe" opens the set with a sprightly waltz, Meier executing the first of many technically difficult passages with a smile and a dance step. ...
read moreNicolas Meier: Kismet
by Bruce Lindsay
Guitarist Nicolas Meier is blessed with precise intonation, fluid technique and mastery of a range of different styles. As a composer, he mixes influences from Turkey, central Europe, Iberia and the Americas to craft accessible, melodic tunes. On Kismet his talents as musician and writer come together to create what might be his best album to date. Meier is not only one of the jazz world's most exciting guitarists, he's also one of its more prolific recording artists. ...
read moreNicolas Meier: From Istanbul To Ceuta With A Smile
by Bruce Lindsay
Long ago, when the world was younger and far more innocent, a British TV commercial challenged its viewers. Take a particular brand of fruit pastille (Rowntree's, to be specific), place it in the mouth, resist the temptation to chew. So deliciously fruity was the pastille that such resistance would be futile. A similar challenge might be initiated for From Istanbul To Ceuta With A Smile, from the Swiss-born, UK-based guitarist Nicolas Meier. Take the album, press Play, listen, resist the ...
read morePete Oxley and Nicolas Meier: Travels To The West
by Bruce Lindsay
Guitar duos may not be quite as rare as hen's teeth in the world of jazz, but they're far from common. Yes, there are classic pairings such as Bucky Pizzarelli and George Barnes, or John Abercrombie and Ralph Towner; but given the instrument's ubiquity it's perhaps surprising that there aren't more such partnerships around. On Travels To The West, a live album recorded during a short UK tour in late 2011, Pete Oxley and Nicolas Meier demonstrate the qualities that ...
read moreNicolas Meier Trios: Breeze
by Bruce Lindsay
Breeze is a guitar trio album. To be more precise, it's a Trios album--a combination of original tunes and standards being performed by acoustic and electric bands. The result is an imaginative and creative recording that further establishes Nicolas Meier's reputation as one of the finest guitarists on the contemporary jazz scene. Most of Breeze is performed by Meier's acoustic trio, with Demi Garcia on percussion and Paolo Minervini on acoustic bass. The electric trio--bassist/harmonicist Pat Bettison ...
read moreNicolas Meier: Journey
by Bruce Lindsay
Swiss-born, UK-based guitarist Nicolas Meier dedicates Journey to his wife Songul, for sharing “this beautiful life journey" with him. Thematically, the eight tunes can readily be viewed as representing such a journey--but it is equally successful in evoking a single day's walk through a beautiful and mysterious landscape, with Meier's band members as fellow travelers. Meier's production achieves a fine sound quality, enabling all of the instruments to show their individual voices, while his playing is uniformly ...
read moreNicolas Meier: Journey
by Chris May
Turkish music and jazz make compatible bedfellows, so it's curious that congress takes place so infrequently outside Turkey. In the late 1950s, pianist Dave Brubeck combined Turkish 9/8 rhythm patterns with classical rondo form and the blues to create “Blue Rondo A La Turk" on Time Out (Columbia, 1959). In the 1980s, Austrian guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel hooked up with the Turkish pianist Aydin Esen, a fellow student at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, eventually recording the noodling, new ...
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