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Nicolas Meier

In just a few short years UK-based Swiss guitarist Nicolas Meier has carved a reputation out as one of the UK’s most original guitarists. Drawing on a love of Turkish, Eastern music, Flamenco, Tango all mix with jazz, Meier has developed his own unique sound with his regular group (latest release was his eight album with his full band.)

London based Swiss guitarist Nicolas Meier is one of the stars of a vibrant British jazz scene, his trademark sound, as heard on his MGP Records and Naim albums, a mixture of Methenyesque jazz and spicy Turkish and world music rhythms.

While in 2006 Meier and his band won the prestigious Grand Prize Of The Jury and 1st Prize Jazz Guitar at Jazz a Juan Revelations 2006: A competition open to the finest new jazz musicians and bands in Europe and run by the legendary Jazz A Juan Festival. He has become increasingly well known in his adopted country where his Nicolas Meier Group featuring some incredible musicians (listed below) has toured extensively for the last 8 years.

Meier draws on a multitude of influences: Jazz, Flamenco, Latin and middle-eastern music are all passionately explored in a series of heartfelt acoustic modern jazz originals and all represent part of Meier’s musical and personal world. His wife Songul is Turkish and he has spent time there and in Spain and ‘Orient’ draws on the melodies and rhythms of both countries. Writing in the Guardian, John Fordham described Meier as” elegant in tone and bubbling with ideas… his originality as a writer, a player and a team leader dispatches any doubts” and described his debut album Orient as ‘a seductive balance of strong themes, inventive improvising and dynamic variety’.

Meier who was born in 73 first picked up the guitar when he was 12. His parents, both art lovers, had wide-ranging musical tastes and he was exposed to classical, jazz, Latin, flamenco, rock and pop. And it was an early gift from his father of Joe Satriani’s legendary ‘Surfing with the Aliens’ and Tony MacAlpine’s Maximum Security (major intelligent rock guitar-god albums) that first really convinced a young Meier to get practicing. Perhaps his old man was worried because he was subsequently taken on a family outing to the Montreux Jazz festival (in what would become an annual pilgrimage) where he heard Carlos Santana with special guest Wayne Shorter. And later that summer Meier was blown away when he saw John McLaughlin’s trio in Antibes (Trilok Gurtu and Jeff Berlin). In fact Mclaughlin’s album Live at the Royal Festival Hall would be a major influence on Meier with its mix of many styles.

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Liner Notes

Dwiki Dharmawan: Pasar Klewer

Read "Dwiki Dharmawan: Pasar Klewer" reviewed by John Kelman


Indonesian keyboard star Dwiki Dharmawan returns following his 2015 MoonJune Records debut, the more fusion-heavy So Far, So Close, with the even more ambitious Pasar Klewer. This vibrant, acoustic piano-driven two-CD set features the cream of Britain's younger expat crop, blending with Indonesian musicians to create a passionate, seamless cultural cross-pollination. Bassist Yaron Stavi and drummer/percussionist Asaf Sirkis form the core trio with Dharmawan, while reed multi-instrumentalist Gilad Atzmon, Gamelan musical virtuoso Aris Daryono and guitarists Nicolas Meier ...

17
Album Review

Nicolas Meier/ Dewa Budjana Group: Flying Spirits

Read "Flying Spirits" reviewed by Jim Worsley


As much as 2020 was a lemon, it was quite the fruitful year for jazz and fusion records. The vault had been closed, sealed, and bolted shut for the year, until a spirit swept the room. Under the heading of 'saving the best for last' or a 'hail Mary,' the magical journey of Flying Spirits (Blue Canoe, 2020) was in the air, in the ear, and enriching the mind. The record brought together virtuoso level guitarists, Nicolas Meier and Dewa ...

4
Album Review

Nicolas Meier World Group: Peaceful

Read "Peaceful" reviewed 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. ...

11
Album Review

Dwiki Dharmawan: Pasar Klewer

Read "Pasar Klewer" reviewed by Dave Wayne


Another day, another two- disc set. Or so it seems. Fortunately, one does not have to wade through Dwiki Dharmawan's Pasar Klewer. Despite some odd choices in track sequence one may even wonder ..."is that all?" after the second disc has finished its spin. Dharmawan is an Indonesian jazz pianist who, like so many of his countrymen, has found a rich vein of inspiration in the folk and ethnic musics of his native land. It's worth noting that Dharmawan is ...

7
Album Review

Nicolas Meier: Kismet

Read "Kismet" reviewed 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. ...

4
Album Review

Nicolas Meier: From Istanbul To Ceuta With A Smile

Read "From Istanbul To Ceuta With A Smile" reviewed 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 ...

3
Album Review

Pete Oxley and Nicolas Meier: Travels To The West

Read "Travels To The West" reviewed 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 ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Flying Spirits

Blue Canoe Records
2020

buy

Peaceful

MGP Records
2019

buy

Pasar Klewer

MoonJune Records
2017

buy

From Istanbul To...

MGP Records
2013

buy

Kismet

MGP Records
2013

buy

Travels To The West

MGP Records
2012

buy

Joged Kahyangen

From: Flying Spirits
By Nicolas Meier

Pasar Klewer

From: Pasar Klewer
By Nicolas Meier

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