28: Ranaan Meyer Interview - a podcast by Jason Heath

This week's Contrabass Conversations podcast features the first part of our interview with double bassist Ranaan Meyer. John Grillo (a frequent guest and collaborator on the podcast) and I co-interviewed Ranaan, who is the bassist for the band Time for Three and has had a very interesting and multi-faceted career. In addition to hearing a few musical excerpts from Time for Three, this episode features music from German double bassist Guy Tuneh, Pittsburgh-based singer/songwriter Brad Yoder, Los Lonely Boys, and The Latin Soul Syndicate. Enjoy!


Ranaan Meyer bio:

Ranaan Meyer, double bassist and composer, began his musical studies at the piano at age 4; at age 11, he took up the double bass (once he was big enough to hold it). He attended the Manhattan School of Music and graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in 2003. Beyond regular appearances with orchestras such as the Minnesota Symphony, Baltimore Symphony and The Philadelphia Orchestra, Mr. Meyer is also increasingly
in demand as a composer, creating unique new works for his trio Time for Three as well as for solo bass and other ensembles. Most recently Mr. Meyer completed a commission, “My Zayda? (for Violin, Piano and Double Bass) for the Kingston Chamber Music Festival in Rhode Island. Other recently completed commissions include a solo double bass piece for the Network for New Music, a double bass and harp duet as well as a set of Time for Three pieces for Astral Artistic Services and a Time for Three composition for the City of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Symphony, “Of time and three rivers?. All commissions have been expedited through the American Composer’s forum.

Mr. Meyer, also an accomplished jazz musician, has performed with Jane Monheight, Victor Lewis, Jason Moran, Mark O’Connor, Ari Hoenig, Duane Eubanks, Mickey Roker and many more. Ranaan, at age 19 produced, directed and performed in the very first
Washington Township Jazz Festival which was also broadcasted live on Philadelphia’s WRTI. Mr. Meyer, an avid teacher, has held adjunct Double Bass Professorships at both Princeton University and the University of Delaware. He has spent several
Summers teaching alongside Hal Robinson (Principal Bass of The Philadelphia Orchestra) at the Strings International Music Festival in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. He has also taught at the Intermountain Suzuki Camp in Sandy, Utah and Mark O’Connor’s String Camp in San Diego, California.

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