Edgar Meyer

This article is about the musical artist. For the Austrian painter, see Edgar Meyer (painter).

Edgar Meyer (born November 24, 1960) is an American bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. He has won seven Grammy Awards and been nominated ten times.^[1]

Edgar Meyer
Background information
Born	(1960-11-24) November 24, 1960 (age 64)
Origin	Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States
Genres	Classical bluegrass progressive bluegrass jazz world music
Occupations	Musician composer
Instrument	Double bass
Labels	Sony Deutsche Grammophon Sugar Hill
Website	edgarmeyer.com

Meyer is a member of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival's "house band" super group, along with Sam Bush, Béla Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, and Bryan Sutton. His collaborators have spanned a wide range of musical styles and talents; among them are Joshua Bell, Hilary Hahn, Yo-Yo Ma, Tessa Lark,^[2] Jerry Douglas, Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Chris Thile, Mike Marshall, Mark O'Connor, Christian McBride, and Emanuel Ax.

Early life

Meyer grew up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where he attended Oak Ridge High School. He learned to play the double bass from his father, Edgar Meyer Sr., who directed the string orchestra program for the local public school system. Meyer later went on to Indiana University School of Music to study with Stuart Sankey.^[3] He graduated in 1984 with a Bachelor of Music (BM).^[4]

Career

As a composer, Meyer's music has been premiered and recorded by Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Yo-Yo Ma, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Hilary Hahn, and the Emerson String Quartet, among others. The Nashville Symphony and the Aspen Music Festival and School commissioned his first purely orchestral work which was premiered by the Nashville Symphony in March 2017.^[5] Additionally, Bravo! Vail and The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields commissioned an Overture for Violin and Orchestra that was premiered by Joshua Bell and ASMF in June 2017.^[6]

In 2011, Meyer collaborated on The Goat Rodeo Sessions with Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, and Chris Thile. The album won two 2013 Grammy Awards. Meyer was honored with his fifth Grammy Award^[7] in 2015 for his Bass & Mandolin, recording with Thile. Meyer recorded a collection of Bach trios with Thile and Yo-Yo Ma, released in April 2017.^[8] In June 2020, the same group of musicians who recorded The Goat Rodeo Sessions released a second album entitled Not Our First Goat Rodeo.

Meyer is Artist in Residence at Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music^[9] and is on faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music.^[10] At Curtis, Meyer taught Punch Brothers bassist and composer Paul Kowert.^[11]

Personal life

Edgar Meyer is married to violinist Connie (Cornelia) Heard, and they have one son, George Meyer, who also plays the violin.

Discography

Solo work

• Unfolding (1986)
• Dreams of Flight (1987)
• Love of a Lifetime (1988)
• Work in Progress (1990)
• Bach: Unaccompanied Cello Suites Performed on Double Bass (2000)
• Meyer and Bottesini Concertos (2002)
• Edgar Meyer (2006)

With Yo-Yo Ma and Mark O'Connor

• Appalachia Waltz (1996)
• Appalachian Journey (2000)
  • Won Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album

With Christian McBride

• But Who's Gonna Play the Melody? (2024)

With Béla Fleck

• Double Time (1984, on the song "Lowdown")
• Perpetual Motion (2001)
  • Won two Grammys
• "Bonnaroo Traveler" (Live at Bonnaroo 2002)
• Music for Two (live) (2004)

With Chris Thile

• Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile (2008)
• Bass & Mandolin (2014)
  • Won Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album

Miscellaneous collaborations

• Telluride Sessions (1989) – as "Strength in Numbers"
• Skip, Hop, and Wobble (1993) – with Jerry Douglas and Russ Barenberg
• Bourbon and Rosewater (1996) – with Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and Jerry Douglas
• Schubert: Quintet, Op. 114 "The Trout" (1996) – with Emanuel Ax, Pamela Frank, Rebeca Young, and Yo-Yo Ma
• Uncommon Ritual (1997) – with Béla Fleck and Mike Marshall
• Quintet (1998) – with the Emerson String Quartet
• Short Trip Home (1999) – with Joshua Bell
  • Grammy nominated
• Dawg Duos (1999) – with David Grisman
• Violin Concerto (2000) – with Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Hilary Hahn
• The Melody of Rhythm – Triple Concerto & Music for Trio (2009) – with Béla Fleck and Zakir Hussain
• The Goat Rodeo Sessions (2011) – with Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan and Chris Thile
  • Won the Grammy Award for Best Folk Album and the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
• Bach Trios (2017) – with Yo-Yo Ma and Chris Thile
• Not Our First Goat Rodeo (2020) – with Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan and Chris Thile