Born: May 8, 1970 Primary Instrument: Bass, acoustic
Double bass player and composer Meinrad Kneer operates on the borders of jazz, improvised, ethnic and contemporary music. Born 1970 in Munderkingen/ Germany, after school years and civil service he studied Biology at the University of Tübingen. From 1995 till 1999 he studied music and double bass at the conservatories of Hilversum and Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Ever-since he is present and active in the Dutch music scene and abroad.
He co-led the quartet and septet Dalgoo together with reed player Tobias Klein between 1998 and 2005. He was awarded the prestigious ‘Jur Naessens Music Award’ in 2002 with the septet Dalgoo - New Anatomy, a project around the work of Russian absurdist and writer Daniil Charms. Currently he is involved as a (co-) leader in the groups: President of the Globe (a project around the work of Russian futurist writer Velimir Chlebnikov), the piano trio van Veenendaal/ Kneer/ Sun (“...one of Holland’s most interesting contemporary jazz groups” - Ken Vos in www.draaiomjeoren.nl, 6th March 2007), RAAM 5 (where dialogues from comic-strips meet improvised music) and an new exciting string- quintet (see groups).
As a sideman in demand he plays with groups such as: Bite the Gnatze, Play Station 6, the Joost Buis Tentet, The Gravitones, I Compani and Spoon 3. He has played with a wide variety of Dutch groups and projects such as Barana & Co, the AXYZ-Ensemble, the bigtet Tetzepi, the Ab Baars Quartet, Roomtone and the Henneman String-quartet.He has performed with among others, Najma Akhtar, Han Bennink, Fred Frith, Tobias Delius, Tristan Honsinger, Denise Jannah, Anne la Berge, Paul Lovens, Tony Overwater, Michael Vatcher and Corrie van Binsbergen.
In the past years he has been touring Russia, Poland, Slovenia, Moldavia, Bulgaria, France and Germany. Since 2001 his work as a composer has been supported by the ‘Fonds voor de Scheppende Toonkunst‘.
In 2006 he co-founded together with pianist Albert van Veenendaal the independant label Evil Rabbit Records. Together with flutist Mark Alban Lotz he organizes a creative music series for free improvisation: u-ex(perimental) in the SJU Jazzpodium in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
... Kneer is the perfect glue... (His) sophisticated contribution holds their stream of ideas together and thus creates an overview for both the band and the public. (Micha Andriessen, Jazzenzo / 5th March 2007)
... Van Veenendaal and Kneer write gripping compositions that take a whimsical course and reach a lot further than the typical theme-solo-theme setup found in most jazz music. (Jazzflits, Herman te Loo, 11th February 2007)
…Chlebnikov wove a variation of bird sounds into his poetry and Kneer’s “Birds”, composed from a transcription, is a musical translation based on delicately sampled bird sounds that hits the nail on the head. (Cees van de Ven, www.draaiomjeoren.nl, 4th October 2005)
... The very fast “Miniature Très Vite” is a special demonstration of double bass player Meinrad Kneer’s strength in speed, bringing his bass to swing and sing especially in the lower regions. (Jaques Los, www.draaiomjeoren.nl, 8th August 2005)
... The compositions written by reed player Tobias Klein and double bass player Meinrad Kneer exceed every level of sophisticated story-telling. (Edo Dijksterhuis, Jazz Nu, 27#1, 2004)
...a bass player, alternating between picking and bowing, showing himshelf as a virtuoso in ornamentation... (Armand Serpenti, Trouw, 14th may 2002)
... Tobias Klein along with bassist Kneer is responsible for all the compositions, and their writing is superb. (Phillip McNally in Cadence, August 2001)
... With his deep and groovy sound Kneer takes on a similar position to Charlie Haden in the historic Ornette Coleman Quartet. (Cyriel Pluimakers, Luister, April 2001)
... Kneer has a balanced and bright sound resembling the quality of a cello. His intonation is accurate and his timing carries the band. (Kees Stevens, Eindhovens Dagblad, 7th March 2001)
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