Den Sessions with Elias Meister Quintet

Born in 1983 in Munich, Germany Elias Meister is active as a Jazz Musician in contemporary, traditional and chamber settings, playing in the engaging Rock band Mon Khmer, the Elektro-Pop Collective Bowmont, with different singer/songwriter projects and producing pop music for the German movie production Company "Bavaria Film". Based in Munich, Germany he has strong ties to the scene in New York and is performing and recording there frequently. Elias Meister has recorded and/or shared the stage with such notable jazz players as George Garzone, Ben Street, Seamus Blake, Kevin Hays, Leo Genovese and Carlos Bica amongst others. Being open to new kinds of music and ways of expression has always been an important part of his artistic strive.



His most important work includes the ongoing project with drummer Pancho Molina. The two muscians release 'Open For Business' in 2012. Recorded at the legendary Sear Sound Studio in New York it features Jazzmasters George Garzone (sax), Ben Street (bass) and Leo Genovese (keys and tribal instruments). The album received a 4-star review by Downbeat Magazine. Meister and Molina have been working on their compositions and fine tuning their sound over the past two years in a workshop involving different musicians and performances. The sound of the group is an eclectic mix of Contemporary Jazz, Latin grooves, Rock and Classical influences as well as showing an affinity to the beauty of a simple song.

The Rock Band 'Mon Khmer' also became an essential part of his expression as a musician. The group released a self-titled full length album (digital and vinyl), the two EPs "Birthplace" and "Dreamers" and toured all over the US to the music festival South-by-Soutwest in Austin, TX. They performed at the prestigious Bowery Ballroom, Le Poisson Rouge, the Mercury Lounge, the Glasslands Gallery and Littlefield in NY, the Dragon's Den in New Orleans and at Princeton and Yale Universities to name a few. Other artist, with whom they shared concert bills, include Secret Machines, Nicole Atkins, Micachu and the Shapes and many more. Playing with Mon Khmer led Elias Meister to experiment with sound in a different way, utilizing assorted effect pedals and the directivity of the Rock Sound.

In 2013 he released "Elias Meister's Miracle Box". The band is comprised of Gordon Au (tr), Craig Akin (bs) and Joe Hertenstein (dr) and features a more rock oriented sound and grooves and very song-like compositions.

Since 2012 Elias Meister is part of the Elektro-Pop band "Bowmont" led by Danish singer Emil Bovbjerg and Grammy winning producer Jeremy Loucas. They have released two EPs: "Euphorian Age" and "Hovering" and performed as such notable venues as the Highline Ballroom, the Soho House NYC and the Mercury Lounge.

Another corner stone of his work is the collaboration with Portuguese vocalist Rita Maria. Since they met in Boston in 2005 the two developed a deep understanding and connection both musicaly and personally. Rita Maria was the lead vocalist on his debut album "Illumi's Journey" (released by Konnex in 2011) which also featured Gordon Au (cornet), Ziv Ravitz (dr) and Daniel Ori (bass). Elias Meister and Rita Maria also perform as a duo, where he often chooses to play the nylon string guitar. They have given concerts in Boston, New York, Lisbon, Porto, Munich, Berlin and more. The duo setting is very inspiring since this intimate situation allows for close attention to details and silence as well as a lot of freedom in interpretation and for improvisation.

Since 2004 Elias Meister has composed, co-produced and recorded Pop songs for movies for the production company 'Bavaria Film' together with the musician Jakob Anthoff'. The first being "Die Wilden Huehner" in 2004, which had well over a million viewers in movie theaters throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland. They also contributed to the soundtracks of "TKKG" (2006), "Die Wilden Huehner und das Leben" (2009), "Summertime Blues" (2009) and "Hier kommt Lola" (2010).

Elias Meister holds a 'summa cum laude' Bachelor's Degree from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, which he attended as a scholarship student from 2003 to 2007. At the college he studied with masters like Joe Lovano, Mick Goodrick and Hal Crook.

The palette of sounds which Elias Meister is utilizing as a musician is vast: moving from the intricacy of Classical and Brazilian finger-picking over Jazz Improvisation to a powerful Rock sound; playing electric, nylon and steel string guitar; exploring and developing his sound in most different genres. All this contributes to an exciting mix and diversity and we can only guess to what the future holds for him.