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Blake Meister

.M. Peabody Conservatory of Music (Jazz Studies); M.M. Catholic University of America (Orchestral Studies). Blake Meister performs and records locally, nationally and internationally. He has performed and/or recorded with a diverse group of world renowned musicians that includes Marc Copland, Larry Willis, Sid Simmons, Benito Gonzalez, Warren Wolf, Buddy Wachter, Paul Bollenback, Yotam Silberstein, Marin Alsop, Jamie Laredo, Alex Norris, Byron Landham, Ralph Peterson, and Gary Thomas. He has received several awards and grants, most recently the 2012 Individual Artist Award for non-classical composition from the Maryland State Arts Council for his upcoming debut album, Septagon. The album, which features Gary Thomas, Paul Bollenback, Marc Copland, and Ralph Peterson, consists of eight original compositions and is slated for release in 2012. Meister is currently a bassist for the American Studio Orchestra, a multi-media, cross-genre ensemble, and has been a member of several traditional orchestras in the Mid-Atlantic corridor.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Meister began on electric bass, later honing his skills on the double bass (and piano) in college. A member of the first full class to matriculate in Peabody's jazz studies department, Meister attracted attention as a student, receiving both the Alice and Leary Taylor and Richard Franko Goldman awards in performance, as well as multiple career development grants. He went on to earn a master's degree in orchestral studies at Catholic University's Benjamin T. Rome School of Music, under a full-tuition scholarship. Before joining the conservatory faculty, Meister served on the faculty of the preparatory division at Peabody, helping to develop a more comprehensive and cohesive jazz studies program as co-coordinator.

Known for his uncanny facility and distinct approach to improvisation, Meister is quickly garnering recognition among musicians and critics alike. In addition to Septagon, Meister can be heard as a sideman on several other releases, most recently including Andrea Wood's Dhyana and Todd Simon's Simon Sez.

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6
Album Review

Larry Willis: I Fall in Love Too Easily

Read "I Fall in Love Too Easily" reviewed by Jack Bowers


I Fall in Love Too Easily is subtitled “The Final Session at Rudy Van Gelder's," as it is not only descriptively but literally the last recording session by veteran pianist Larry Willis, who died at age seventy-six in September 2019, one year after the album was completed at the renowned Van Gelder studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. The occasion also represented a homecoming of sorts for Willis who launched his six-decades-long career at that same studio in 1965, cutting ...

2
Album Review

Blake Meister: Septagon

Read "Septagon" reviewed by John Ephland


Well-played, with an internal sense of melody that everyone gets. That's bassist Blake Meister's Septagon in a nutshell. And that “everyone" includes a crew worth paying attention to: pianist Marc Copland, drummer Ralph Peterson, guitarist Paul Bollenback and reed player Gary Thomas. They pretty much all get room to solo as they tackle the charts, the songs full of twists and turns. What Septagon doesn't have is a strong enough musical identity to keep you humming well after the music ...

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Recording

Blake Meister Releases Debut CD "Septagon" on Inner Circle Music

Blake Meister Releases Debut CD "Septagon" on Inner Circle Music

Source: Michael Ricci

Jazz bassist and composer Blake Meister has released his debut album, Septagon. The album consists entirely of original compositions, ranging from the off-center blues of the title cut to the evocative imagery of “Sunset" and the engaging tone poem “Market East." “Blake Meister's debut release is filled with inspired writing performed by dedicated educators who are providing the next generation a clinic on how to properly communicate the lexicon of Jazz!!" —Jeff Duperon, WRTI FM, Philadelphia, PA   The stellar ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

I Fall in Love Too...

HighNote Records
2020

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Septagon

Inner Circle Music
2013

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