Bio

Andrew D. Meyer is a performer and sonic adventurer on multiple woodwinds with a focus on solo soprano saxophone improvisation and composition. In performance, as well as composition, he often mixes short rhythmic phrases in a repetitive manner with improvisation, running the full dynamic range and exploring the multitude of sonic possibilities the soprano saxophone has to offer. Recent performances have included the Beacon Theater in Manhattan, and performances on the national tours of Chicago and Cirque Musica. He has performed adventurous new music in many locales including the COMA series at Manhattan’s ABC No Rio, the Leftover Daylight Series at Toronto’s Array Music Studios, Sound of MU in Oslo, Norway, as a featured artist at the New Genre Festival at Tulsa’s Living Arts, the International Society for Improvising Musicians (ISIM) conference, the North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) national conference, and many others. As a soloist, Meyer has appeared with the Ohio Valley Symphony Orchestra and the Ohio University Symphony Orchestra.

Meyer’s current release, Goa Variations, features a unique blend of psychedelic minimalism that mixes searing soprano saxophone lines and pulsating synthesizers. The album has garnered the following critical praise:

““Goa Variations” shows off Andrew D. Meyer’s seemingly eternal work in a way that gives it a dreamy, otherworldly presence. The color bursts forth from these compositions giving them a lush, summery glow.” -BeachSloth.com

“Here Andrew D. Meyer proves not only his craft on his instrument, but with incredible creativity creates a very idiosyncratic sound cosmos that transports the listener into a kind of parallel world.” -She-Wolf.eu

A native of Northeast Ohio, Meyer has earned a masters degree in saxophone performance at Ohio University and a bachelors degree in saxophone performance at Youngstown State University. While at Ohio University, Meyer won the student soloist competition and the graduate award for performance. During his time in Youngstown, Meyer co-lead the short-lived Music Actual concert series that brought improvising luminaries such as Wade Matthews, Tatsuya Nakatani, Rueben Radding, and Thollem McDonas to the region. During this time, he co-founded the improvising trio (the) giants of gender, which performed widely across the United States and garnered the following praise for its recordings:

“Their playing is populated by suggestions and vignettes that gradually develop into a fully realized concept which can sound galvanizing, or just a curiosity, but never fails to elicit interest in the listener” -Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes

“They activate the brain to breed dreams and sights…A natural stimulant remarkably effective in the case of a serious acoustic lack of appetite” -Mark Carcasi, Kathodik

“The band sets forth on a course that is driven by unusual tone poems and unwieldy musical planes…nonetheless, there’s a lot to chew on, thanks to active musical minds at work throughout this rather investigative and somewhat flirtations program.” -Glenn Astarita, eJazzNews

From 2008-2010, Meyer lived in South Bend, Indiana, testing clarinets and bass clarinets for the Conn-Selmer corporation. During this time, he was a co-founder of the trio Sobriquet and the Meyer-James duo, both of which performed widely throughout the region. Sobriquet became known for its genre-bending performances, blending jazz, rock, electronic styles, and more into a unique style coined as Adult-melodic.

Equally comfortable performing Berio, bossa nova, or blues, Meyer has done much commercial playing with the likes of the Temptations, 4-Tops, the Coasters, Al Martino, Flavia Bittencourt, the Guy Lombardo Orchestra, many top cabaret acts from the US, UK, and Australia. He has performed on both saxophone and clarinet with the Youngstown symphony as well as for many musical theater productions and with big bands throughout the midwest and Canada. From 2010 to 2018, Meyer worked as a musician and musical director for Celebrity Cruises.

Andrew D. Meyer has published three pieces for solo soprano saxophone which focus on improvisation and repetitive material. These pieces are available from Dorn Publications under the title, Three Improvisations for Solo Soprano Saxophone. Meyer has also recorded music for the Bay Area’s Edgetone records with (the) giants of gender.

In 2020, Meyer’s trio, the Eddy/Meyer Trio, which has performed traditional Gypsy jazz throughout Ohio and West Virginia was nominated for an Independent Music Award for their recording of Swing Gitan. The trio album, Who is Eddy Meyer? is available on all major streaming services.