 Born in Encino, California, on March 16, 1961, Gary Meek's
natural musical talent led him to pick up a variety of instruments at
an early age. He started playing the piano at the age of five and
working through his father's record collection. After hearing his dad's
copy of 'Begin The Beguine' by Artie Shaw, young Gary
decided to play the clarinet. He played both piano and clarinet in
Junior High School, but found upon entering High School that in order
to join the jazz band, he would have to learn saxophone and flute,
too. After graduating from High School, and while a student at the Dick
Grove School of Music (1979 - 1980), Gary joined the Los Angeles Jazz
Workshop, swinging his sax in a big band once a week. He played
saxophone and keyboards at wedding, parties and in nightclubs until, at
the age of 25, his big break came with a gig with Dionne Warwick's band
on a worldwide tour in 1986.
Albums:
- Live At Ronnie Scott's
- Time One
- Good Friends
The following year, Gary met Airto Moreira and Flora Purim
and discovered musical soul mates. "They offered me my first major road
gig," he recalls, "and the challenge of adapting to Brazilian music,
which I had never played before".
For four years Gary toured the
world with the two legendary Brazilian jazz artists, appearing on their
albums and with The Gods of Jazz supergroup, with the likes of Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock.
In 1990, along with the guitarist José Neto, Airto, Flora and Gary
formed a quartet known asFourth World. Aside from his work with Fourth World, Gary has also appeared on approximately 50 records by diverse artists, including Sergio Mendez, Yutaka Yokokura, Kevyn Lettau, Frank Gambale, the Rippingtons, Dave Benolt, Alphonse Mouzon, Jeff Lorber
and many others. In 1991, Gary recorded his first, self-titled solo
album for Lipstick Records. For his second solo album, his first for
M.E.L.T (then B&W Music), Gary recruited a quartet and invited his
colleague from Fourth World, José Neto to guest on guitar. The release
of Time One(BNET005) in the Spring of 1995 was marked with a European
tour which concluded with a triumphant residency at Ronnie Scotts in
London where the Meek style, combining Latin and funk with jazz
improvisations, drew great acclaim from the critics. His second album
was Good Friends (BW102) Meek has a long-standing relationship with
keyboardist Jeff Lorber and is featured prominently on the
keyboardist's last four recordings for Verve. The two have toured
widely over the past 10 years, including a 1995-1996 world tour with Herb Alpert, promoting Alpert's Second Wind album. In 1997, Meek toured with Al Jarreau
in the U.S. and Europe. In 2000, Gary once again teamed up with long
standing friends Purim and Moreira to record Perpetual Emotion. In
addition to playing woodwinds Meek also co-produced the album. For his
A440 debut, Step 7, Meek took advantage of the musical momentum created
by Perpetual Emotion. The same band was used for most of Step 7 -- you
can feel the chemistry that comes from having played 'live' together
many times. Throughout his career, Meek has also toured with bands led
by Sergio Mendes, Alphonse Mouzon, The Rippingtons, David Benoit, Kevyn Lettau
and many others. At present, he is working in Los Angeles primarily as
an in-demand session player, composer, and arranger. Gary has played on
recordings with notables such as Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke,
Herbie Hancock, George Duke, Russell Ferrante, Jimmy Haslip, Alphonso
Johnson, Alphonse Mouzon, and Brian Bromberg.
Meek has
released four solo recordings to date, including Gary Meek, Time One,
Live at Ronnie Scott's and Good Friends. His latest recording, Step 7,
was released by A440 Music Group on November 12, 2002.
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