Edgar Meyer

Joe Taylor · #1 02-23-2003, 07:01 PM

Anyone know what Edgar Meyer is up to now that he is a certified as being smart. And, has enough money so he doesn't have to do anything.

Joe

**Damon Rondeau** · #2 02-23-2003, 10:11 PM

Last June I sat on the grass 10 feet away from him while he dueted with mandolinist Mike Marshall. They were doing a bunch of stuff from the Brazilian mandolin tradition, of which I'd never heard before sitting down for that workshop. Beautiful stuff.

He played some pie-ano for us too.

He had come right from the plane to the workshop stage, where some low hanging tent rigging was interfering with the scroll of his bass, kinda bumming him out. Someone asked him about his bass and he launched into a quite fascinating diatribe on the structural differences between basses and guitars.

SleeperMan2000 · #3 02-24-2003, 06:28 AM

For anyone in the North Carolina Area, Edgar is playing at a coffee house with Mike Marshall in mid-march in Chapel Hill.

I'll be going, if anyone wants further details let me know.

Shlomobaruch · #4 03-02-2003, 07:35 PM

During a recent radio interview he said he's working on four major projects right now. First is a musical collaboration "outside of [his] normal cast of folks", second is compiling a CD from about 30 live concerts with Bela Fleck, third is a second bass concerto due to be performed on the ten year anniversary of the first one, finally a duo concerto w/ Bela Fleck. Add to that the shows listed on his website and random scheduled appearances... the boy is keeping himself busy.

nicklloyd · #5 03-07-2003, 05:36 PM

I went to a Meyer/Fleck duet concert last year. Man, was it ever boring. Don't get me wrong, Edgar's great and amazing and all that. But, I can't get into Bela's writing/playing. It sounded like two people solving a math problem. Even their Bach stuff was dry. I dunno, we all have good gigs and bad gigs.
In addition, the hippies behind me sprayed a liter of Pepsi all over the place. Too stoned to bring cans, I guess....

Baron von Basso · #6 03-31-2003, 09:39 AM

I was under the impression that this huge grant that Edgar got enables artiststs to focus soley on their art and not worry about financial problems and before he got it he was writing, recording, performing...basically doing everything needed for his art. In other words, the grant seems to have freed him up to do just what he was doing before he got it! What a life.

don't forget he'll be headlining the ISB convention this summer.

tommythomas · #7 04-11-2003, 06:06 AM

I was talking to someone who saw Edger recently and she said that on the upright he was playing, there were inlaid position dots on the face of the fingerboard.

Anyone see the same?

Baron von Basso · #8 04-11-2003, 08:39 AM

I've played that bass, and yes the dots are there. Edgar was doing a soundcheck with his amplification system before an orchestra rehearsal with an orch that I'm in and he wanted somebody to play it while he listened. Somehow I found myself up on stage with this thing. It is a TINY bass with very low action. The dots, if I'm not mistaken, are in odd places. Not where one would think if one were used to electirc bass dots. I think there was a G# one at least. Edgar has come under fire for this but he doesn't care. He said that "I had dots put on some of my favorite notes 'cuz I like to know where I'm going". Look at early MCA albums of his and he has no dots. He doesn't need them, but for some reason he uses them. I imagine that it is for some of the crazy stuff that he does in his own compositions.

Mike Goodbar · #9 04-11-2003, 09:03 AM

Quote:

I was talking to someone who saw Edger recently and she said that on the upright he was playing, there were inlaid position dots on the face of the fingerboard.

Check this thread out.

tommythomas · #10 04-11-2003, 12:19 PM

I had an encouraging experience just this past Wednesday night.

I don't have a problem with cheater marks but I understand the stigma of them and I want to play without them.

Anyway, I've been playing DB just under a month (BG and fretless BG for a long time). I've been using pencil marks to help me out. But last Wednesday was my first time playing the DB in public. I am a regular at a weekly traditional Irish music session. I play other instruments there but figured I give the DB a shot.

Things went well and I was reliant on the pencil marks but as the night went on and due to my still developing technique, my thumb wiped off a couple of the marks. Of course the ones identifying where G and A would be on the E string. Common area.

But I went with the flow and found myself hitting the notes pretty decent. I was very pleased. But I still have a hell of a lot to learn.