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| Peter Oxley (left and Nic Meier (right). Photo credit Virgule Rimp |
Guitarists Peter Oxley and Nicolas Meier will be releasing a second album together “Chasing Tales, on March 2nd. They are also currently touring – dates below. Sebastian interviewed them both by email, asking the same questions to each of the guitarists. :
LondonJazz News: Where are you both from?
Peter Oxley: I am from Bury St. Edmunds and Nic is from Fribourg in Switzerland
Nicolas Meier: I’m from Fribourg in Switzerland, French part of Switzerland. I left then to study music in Boston usa for a few years and then moved to England 15 years ago.
LJN: How did you meet?
PO: We met at my jazz club in Oxford, The Spin. Nick came to play with his band and I was instantly struck by his incredible playing. When there was an opening for a guitarist in the group Eclectica!, I immediately called Nick!
NM: After I made my album “orient” Gilad Atzmon who was playing in my group at that time suggested that I contact Pete to play at his beautiful club in Oxford. So I sent him the CD. I was very please he booked us and we met then and he was very friendly from the beginning. Then he invited me to join Eclectica!. I really enjoyed his overall musicianship. His playing, his composing and his arranging skills.
We also enjoyed a lot of the same music and players…
LJN: How long have you worked as a duo
PO: Nic and I played in the quartet, Eclectica! for a year or so before being offered our first duo gig in 2011. This went extremely well and at the end of it, we both knew that we had to record something. We booked a short tour in the West country and recorded 3 of the gigs. Out of that, we made our first live album in early 2012, ‘Travels To The West’ (MGPCD008).
NM: We’ve been playing a few years together and I am very pleased that with our two albums we are both growing together and developing our playing our writing and our arranging. It was a great challenge to create our new album together.
LJN: Did you find it was easy to identify repertoire you both like?
PO: We are both reasonably prolific writers, so we very quickly came up with a bunch of original tunes, plus other things that appealed to both of us.
NM: Yes, as we like some of the same music and players. What is also nice is that we have both identities. .. Pete in the jazz world with a lot of challenging harmonies and arrangement structures and my interest in world music and other styles… so we have always a lot of choices…
LJN: Were there guitar duo albums you liked ? Were they the same for both of you ?
PO: Probably one of our favourite guitar duo albums is ‘Duet’ by Sylvain Luc and Bireli Lagrene.
NM: My favorite is actually a trio: paco de lucia, John McLaughlin and Al Di Meola.
LJN: Do you have shared interests outside music?
Both: We are going to take badminton racquets on tour with us!
2015 TOUR DATES:
11/02 Pizza Express Jazz Club, Soho, London
12/02 Oxford -The Spin, 129 High St.
13/02 Boxford “Fleece Jazz”, Stoke by Nayland Hotel, Boxford
14/02 Burnham “The Balcony”, Stokers, Burnham
15/02 Jazz East @ Fludyers, Felixstowe
19/02 St. Lawrence Chapel, Ashburton
20/02 Hazelwood House, Kingsbridge
22/02 Royal Clifton Hotel, Southport
24/02 Southern Jazz Guitar Society, Romsey
25/02 Albion Beatnik Bookshop, Oxford
26/02 Oliver’s Jazz Bar, Greenwich
27/02 Jazzpac/New Jazz 5, Lincoln
01/03 Milestones Jazz Club, Lowestoft
04/03 Jazz On Tap, Burton-Upon-Trent
06/03 Arts Centre, Ilminster
13/03 Meeting House, Ringwood
20/03 The Bear Club, Luton
27/03 The Duke Of Cornwall, Plymouth
31/03 Dempsey’s, Cardiff
01/04 Jazzland, Swansea
04/04 Worton Organic Garden, Oxford
LINK: Chasing Tales at MGP Records
Categories: miscellaneous
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