Gary Meek | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | March 16, 1961 |
| Genres | Jazz, Jazz fusion, Latin jazz |
| Instrument(s) | saxophone, keyboards |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Labels | Lipstick, B&W, MELT 2000, A440 Music Group, Ronnie Scott, Concord, Stretch |
Gary Meek (born March 16, 1961) is an American jazz and fusion saxophone and keyboard artist. As a featured artist or session musician he has contributed to more than 150 albums. [1]
Gary Meek was born in 1961 in Encino, California. His father played piano recreationally. Meek attended El Camino Real High School, where he was active in the music department on clarinet, saxophones and keyboard. After high school he attended Los Angeles Pierce College and subsequently enrolled in the Dick Grove School of Music Professional Instrumental Program.
Meek began his career in the early 1980s playing woodwinds in the big bands of the Los Angeles Jazz Workshop, and keyboards and woodwinds for local club dates, weddings and private parties. [2] In the mid-'80s he toured with Dionne Warwick, playing keyboards.
In 1987, Meek began a two-decade association with Brazilian jazz artists Airto Moreira and Flora Purim. In 1990, joined by Jose Neto, they formed Fourth World. This band toured the U.S., [3] Europe, [4] Asia, [5] South Africa and Eastern Europe for five years, [6] releasing a live album in 1992, Live at Ronnie Scott's . Three years later, Meek joined Herb Alpert's world tour in support of Alpert's Second Wind album. [7] The following year, Meek toured the U.S. and Europe playing saxes, flute and keyboards for Al Jarreau.
Meek's first album as a leader and saxophonist, 1991's Gary Meek, comprises 11 songs all written or cowritten by Meek. He has released four other solo projects to date, including Time One, [8] Live at Ronnie Scott's, Good Friends, and Step 7. [9]
Through the 1990s and early 2000s, Meek began several enduring collaborations, some with artists who contributed session work for his solo efforts. [10] After keyboardist Jeff Lorber appeared on Gary Meek, Meek played for several Lorber albums, including the Billboard Top 5 West Side Stories in 1994. Meek's first studio work for bassist Brian Bromberg, on 1997's You Know That Feeling, led to several tours and albums including Downright Upright, nominated for the "Best Contemporary Jazz Album" Grammy in 2007. [11]
In 2000, Meek played saxophone for Green Day's album Warning , which reached No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard 200 [12] and was certified gold by the RIAA. [13]
In 2003, Meek played woodwinds for the album Playful Heart [14] by guitarist and bossa nova pioneer Oscar Castro-Neves. [15] The release, named one of that year's best albums by Downbeat, included an arrangement of "Four Brothers" that Castro-Neves wrote to feature Meek on all the woodwind parts. [16] Meek was later featured on Castro-Neves' 2006 album All One.
In 2002, Meek collaborated for the first time with drummer Dave Weckl for the Dave Weckl Band album, "Live (and Very Plugged In)" [17] and a subsequent world tour. He also played with Weckl for 2005's Multiplicity, [18] and with Weckl and keyboardist Jay Oliver for Convergence in 2012.
In 2015, the Dave Weckl Acoustic Band [19] released its debut album, Of the Same Mind, and subsequently touring in Europe, [20] Asia and the U.S. [21] The band included Weckl, Meek, keyboardist Makoto Ozone and bassist Tom Kennedy. [22]
In 2017 Meek recorded Originals which was listed in Downbeat magazine's "Best Jazz Albums of 2018".[ citation needed ]
Meek lives with his wife, Maureen, in the Monterey, California area, where he is a traveling clinician for the Monterey Jazz Festival. [23] He also teaches privately, sharing methods passed on to him by Phil Sobel, his teacher of more than 25 years. [24] Meek collaborates globally through Internet recording sessions, and travels to Los Angeles for session work. He plays Cannonball saxophones [25] and D'Addario reeds and mouthpieces.
Gary Meek:
Flora Purim:
Airto Moreira:
Airto Moreira and Flora Purim:
Fourth World:
Jeff Lorber:
Brian Bromberg:
Green Day:
Dave Weckl Band:
Dave Weckl and Jay Oliver:
Dave Weckl Acoustic Band:
Michel Camilo is a Dominican pianist and composer. He specializes in jazz, Latin and classical piano work.
Return to Forever was an American jazz fusion band that was founded by pianist Chick Corea in 1972. The band has had many members, with the only consistent bandmate of Corea's being bassist Stanley Clarke. Along with Weather Report, The Headhunters, and Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever is often cited as one of the core groups of the jazz-fusion movement of the 1970s. Several musicians, including Clarke, Flora Purim, Airto Moreira and Al Di Meola, came to prominence through their performances on Return to Forever albums.
Flora Purim is a Brazilian jazz singer known primarily for her work in the jazz fusion style. She became prominent for her part in Return to Forever with Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke. She has recorded and performed with numerous artists, including Dizzy Gillespie, Gil Evans, Opa, Stan Getz, George Duke, Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead, Santana, Jaco Pastorius, and her husband Airto Moreira.
Giovanni Hidalgo a.k.a. "Mañenguito" is a Latin jazz percussionist.
Airto Guimorvan Moreira is a Brazilian jazz drummer and percussionist. He is married to jazz singer Flora Purim, and their daughter Diana Moreira is also a singer. Coming to prominence in the late 1960s as a member of the Brazilian ensemble Quarteto Novo, he moved to the United States and worked in jazz fusion with Miles Davis, Return to Forever and Santana.
Antônio Maurício Horta de Melo is a Brazilian jazz guitarist and vocalist.
Donald Henri Grusin is an American jazz keyboardist, composer, and record producer. He is the younger brother of Dave Grusin.
Howard "Buzz" Feiten II is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, session musician, and luthier. He is best known as a lead and rhythm guitarist and for having patented a tuning system for guitars and similar instruments. Feiten also manufactures and markets solid-body electric guitars.
Return to the 7th Galaxy: The Anthology is a 1996 compilation of 1972-1976 recordings made by bands assembled by Chick Corea under the name Return to Forever. The collection includes tracks from the albums Light as a Feather, Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, Where Have I Known You Before and No Mystery, together with four previously unreleased tracks.
Oscar Castro-Neves, was a Brazilian guitarist, arranger, and composer who is considered a founding figure in bossa nova.
Captain Marvel is a 1974 jazz album by saxophonist Stan Getz recorded on March 3, 1972 and released on Columbia two years later. The quintet features pianist Chick Corea, who composed most of the material, bassist Stanley Clarke, Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira and drummer Tony Williams.
Speak No Evil is a 2003 album by the Brazilian singer Flora Purim. The name of the album is a tribute to a 1965 album and song by Wayne Shorter.
The Happy People is a live album by the Cannonball Adderley Quintet, a band led by jazz saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley. It was recorded in 1970 in New York City and released in 1972 through Capitol Records. It features contributions from the quintet: Cannonball Adderley on saxophone, George Duke on piano, Walter Booker on string bass, Roy McCurdy on drums and Nat Adderley on cornet, with guest appearances from Airto Moreira, Olga James, Flora Purim, David T. Walker, Chuck Rainey, King Errisson and Mayuto Correa.
Lovers is an album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley. It was recorded at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California in 1975 by Adderley with Nat Adderley, Alvin Batiste, George Duke, Alphonso Johnson, Jack DeJohnette, Airto Moreira. A posthumously released track included Flora Purim, Nat Adderley Jr., and Ron Carter.
Live at Ronnie Scott's is a live album by the Brazilian jazz group Fourth World, that was released by the Ronnie Scott's Jazz House record label in 1992.
José Pires de Almeida Neto, born in 1954 in São Paulo, is a Brazilian guitarist known for playing jazz. In addition to acoustic and electric guitars, he plays an electric nylon string guitar with polysubbass strings.
Stories to Tell is the fourth solo studio album by Brazilian jazz singer Flora Purim that was released in 1974 on Milestone Records.
Fourth World is the debut album by the Brazilian jazz group Fourth World that was released on B&W Music in 1993.
If You Will is an album by Brazilian jazz vocalist Flora Purim. Her first studio release in over 15 years, it was recorded in Brazil and California, and was issued in 2022 by Strut Records in celebration of the singer's 80th birthday. The album is the creative concept of Italian, London based, radio-dj Roberta Cutolo who engaged on this remote-production journey with Flora Purim during the pandemic by managing to lock a recording deal with Strut Records in the UK. They conceived and drew up together the idea of a 'latin-jazz-dance' album with a message which was going to appeal to new audiences as well as the older ones who instantly showed being particularly appreciative of the fact that Flora Purim was unexpectedly releasing something new after such a long time. On the album, which is dedicated to the memory of George Duke and Chick Corea, Purim is joined by a large group of musicians, including her husband, percussionist Airto Moreira, and daughter, vocalist Diana Purim.
Däfos is a live album by percussionists Mickey Hart and Airto Moreira and vocalist Flora Purim. It was recorded at the Japan Center Theatre in San Francisco, California, in 1982 and 1983, and was initially released in 1983 by Reference Recordings. It was later reissued by Rykodisc as part of their series titled "The World", and is included in the Smithsonian Folkways Mickey Hart Collection. The reissue includes a bonus track that was recorded in 1984 at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California.
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