Other Animal
Biography Other Animal
Peter Meyer
„There is probably no comparable guitarist in germany, who is as versatile and creative as Peter Meyer“, writes the music magazine „Sound And Image“. Jazzthetik calls him „master of sounds“.
Guitarist and composer Peter Meyer lives in Berlin since 2004. There he studied music with Prof. Kurt Rosenwinkel at the Jazz Instiut. By melting all influences of jazz-improvisation, experimental sounds, prog- and indirock, eletronic and Neue Musik together, he creates a unique and unheard style, that makes him a remarkable voice of a new generation of jazz musicians. As a result he has been nominated two times, 2015 and 2017, for the echo jazz (the german grammy).
Together with his brother, Bernhard Meyer, he found „Melt Trio“ together with Drummer Moritz Baumgärtner in 2010. Their recordings”Melt”, “Hymnolia” and „Stroy“ where highly praised by the jazz cognoscenti. The Jazzpodium writes „Melt Trio plays in there one devision“ and it is „one of the most amaizing bands in the current scene“ (Rondo). In 2016 ARTE recorded a Melt Trio concert at the Donau 115. Beside his own projects Peter Meyer is member of the bands from Johanna Borchert, Dan Freeman, Lea W. Frey and Carlos Bica.
2018 the joint quartett by the Meyer brothers with Jim Black and Wanja Slavin will release there first recordings.
Bernhard Meyer
is living in Berlin since 2003 and became a major part of its young, exciting jazz scene over the last years. His unique playing and his remarkable sound on the semiacoustic E-Bass makes him an outstanding voice within the Jazzworld. His band „Melt Trio“ was acclaimed by the press for the recordings „Melt“, „Hymnolia“ & „Stroy“ and nominated for the EchoJazz three times. Bernhard Meyer completed a master program for composition with Prof John Hollenbeck at the Jazz Institut Berlin and found as a result a way to deepen his individual compositional skills. He played/ is playing in projects like John Hollenbeck`s “DrumsBassBassBassDrums”, Kurt Rosenwinkel`s “E.Coli”, Eric Schäfer`s “The Shredzs”, Claudio Puntin`s “Sepiasonic” and is a long time band member of singer Lea W Frey. 2016 he recorded as a duo with John Hollenbeck and for Wanja Slavin`s „Lotus Eaters“ alongside with Nasheet Waits. For the following year 2018 two new projects will be presented: The joint quartett by the Meyer brothers mit Jim Black & Wanja Slavin. And „Murmuration“, the first band as sole leader, a quintett feat. Claudio Puntin (Clarinette), Julius Heise (Vibraphon, Perc), Peter Meyer (Git) & Andi Haberl (Drums).
Wanja Slavin
(b.1982), started with clarinet and piano at the age of six. His first teachers were his father and Hildegard Niemann, later Nicolas Simion (Saxophon and Composition), Lee Konitz (Saxophon), Rolf Weber (Clarinet) and Kazue Suzuki (Piano).
At the age of 15 Slavin started at the Richard- Strauss Konservatorium studying Clarinet and Saxophon by Leszek Zadlo. Beside he’s studies at the Conservatory he also took lessons in composition by Vadim Werbitzky.
2008 – 2010 Slavin began he’s further education in Film music at HFF in Potsdam Babelsberg by professor Ulrich Reuter.
As a musician Wanja Slavin gain several prices: at New Generation Förderpreis des Bayerischen Rundfunks he won the first price twice. At Gasteig Musikwettbewerb, Jugend Jazzt and BMW Welt Jazz Award 2011 he gained the second price. 2014 he won the echo jazz.
2005 Wanja Slavin debuted as composer at festival der Münchner Gesellschaft für neue Musik. About the same time he premiered pieces by composer Benedikt W. Schiefer and Vadim Werbitzky that specially had directed their work to Slavin.
Wanja Slavin has been invited to festivals such as Münchner Klaviersommer and Moers Festival and worked with musician Joachim Kühn, Kenny Wheeler, Mederic Collignon, John Schröder, Rudi Mahall, Alexander von Schlippenbach, Tobias Delius, Marty Cook, Geoff Goodman,Paulo Cardoso, Wilfried Hiller, Christian Lilinger to name a few.
Jim Black
Born in 1967, Jim Black grew up in Seattle alongside future colleagues Chris Speed, Andrew D’Angelo and Cuong Vu. After cementing their personal and artistic relationships in Seattle’s various youth jazz ensembles, in 1985 they moved to Boston, where Black entered the Berklee School of Music. In Boston, Black, Speed and D’Angelo formed Human Feel with guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, which rapidly attracted the attention of the jazz cognoscenti in Boston, New York and beyond.
By 1991, Black and the other members of Human Feel had moved to New York City, where they electrified the Downtown music scene then centered around the Knitting Factory and rapidly became among the city’s busiest sidemen. Black’s early years in New York saw him take featured roles in some of the most critically acclaimed bands of the time, like Tim Berne’s Bloodcount, Ellery Eskelin’s trio, and Dave Douglas’s Tiny Bell Trio. Thus began fifteen years of near-constant touring and recording, with the above bands as well as artists like Uri Caine, Dave Liebman, Nels Cline, Steve Coleman, Tomasz Stanko, and Laurie Anderson.
In the last years Black enthralled and inspired audiences worldwide as leader of one of the world’s most forward-thinking band, AlasNoAxis, featuring his longtime collaborators Chris Speed, Hilmar Jensson and Skúli Sverrisson.
