Pete Oxley and Nicholas Meier Quartet
Wednesday 29 April 2020 8.30pm Churston Golf Club
Pete Oxley and Nicholas Meier are Back at Fougou Jazz this time as a Quartet, with an incredible rhythm section of Ralph Mizraki on acoustic and electric basses and Paul Cavaciuti on drums. Expect a dazzling display of contemporary fare, with soundscapes ranging from the Middle East, Latin America to English pastoralism. Pete and Nick have continued to use many varying types of guitars: Fretless 11-string (Glissentar), acoustic and electric 12-strings, slide, 7-string nylon, sitar guitar, fretless guitar and jazz guitars.
Pete Oxley
Pete began his musical career in Paris in the mid ‘80s before relocating to the UK in 1997. Shortly afterwards he opened The Spin jazz club in Oxford which in 2012 won the Parliamentary jazz award as ‘The Best Jazz Venue In The UK’. Pete regularly performs with some of the world’s leading jazz artists including Chris Garrick, Gilad Atzmon, Tim Whitehead, Dave O’Higgins, John Etheridge and his own band Curious Paradise. He has now released 14 critically acclaimed CDs featuring his original compositions.
As a composer, Pete was selected as one of only a handful of British jazz musicians to have his compositions included in the definitive ‘European Real Book’ (Sher Music)
Nicolas Meier
With his unique style that is a blend of Metheny-esque jazz and Turkish inspired world music, Nick has toured extensively around the world with his band the Meier Group, sharing the bill with some of the biggest names in jazz including Bill Evans and Brad Mehldau. This wonderful band (featuring sax maestro Gilad Atzmon) won the overall prize for ‘best band’ at the Juan-les-Pins jazz festival!
His recent album Kismet is a wonderful heady mixture of Flamenco, jazz, Latin and Middle Eastern music. His prodigious jazz talent is matched by his other great passion: playing heavy metal guitar in his scorching group ‘Seven7’. Nick was, for the last three years, guitarist in guitar supremo, Jeff Beck’s band, with whom he toured all over the world, performing at major venues and festivals. He has recently recorded a stunning album with the A-lister rhythm section of Jimmy Haslip (Yellowjackets) and Vinnie Coliauta (Sting, Frank Zappa etc.).
Raph Mizraki Acoustic & electric basses
Raph has a hugely varied musical career behind him, ranging from high-level Medieval music (a former member of the Dufay Collective) to the funkiest of felonious funk! Although a genuine multi-instrumentalist, he is now specialising in bass and as such has credits with all sorts, but relevant to jazz, has worked with, among many others: Jamie Culham, Ross Stanley, John Etheridge, Mornington Lockett, Dave O’Higins etc. etc. A world-class player on both electric and acoustic basses.
Paul Cavaciuti Drums
Paul is an internationally renowned performer, composer and music educator. He is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and of the Institute for Music and Health in New York. As a performer, he has played, toured and recorded with some of the top names in British and American music, including Jim Mullen, David Gordon, Tony Woods, Theo Travis, Mornington Lockett, Nigel Price, Chris Garrick, Chris Allard, Tim Whitehead, Jacqui Dankworth, The Hot Orange Big Band, Sheryl Bailey, The New York Festival of Song (NYFOS), and the London Chamber Orchestra. His playing has been described as “inspired” (Jazz Journal International) and “outstanding and virtuosic” (Musician Magazine).
“These two resourceful maestros reach out to a wide audience” – The Guardian ★★★★
“These are two masterly guitarists… If you love music of any kind you’ll probably fall for this.” – The Observer,.★★★★
“Not just a guitar album to love, a jazz album to savour but a joyous album of music that reaches toward a goal beyond” – Jazzwise ★★★★ ‘The Colours of Time’ 2017