The quartet around the drummer Michel Meis is making its mark on the European jazz scene with an edgy eclectic jazz that is as vibrant as it is melancholic.
They effortlessly move from one extreme to the other. Unleashed rhythms culminate in lyrical melodies. Classical jazz elements steer towards lush electronic effects. Free improvisations end up almost seamlessly in catchy melodies.
After their acclaimed debut album “Lost in Translation” (2019), they’ll release on 28 May on Double Moon Records their second album “Kaboom”, featuring the French violinist Théo Ceccaldi, one of the most unique musicians of the new European jazz scene.
Line-up:
Michel Meis: drums
Alisa Klein: trombone
Cédric Hanriot: piano & rhodes
Stephan Goldbach: double bass
: HAS PLAYED
B-Flat Berlin (DE), Blues ‘n Jazz Rallye Luxembourg (LU), Budapest Music Center/Opus Jazz Club (HU), inJazz Rotterdam (NL), Jammin’ Juan (FR), Jazz à Juan (FR), Jazzrally Du?sseldorf (DE), Like A Jazzmachine Festival Dudelange (LU), Nancy Jazz Pulsations (FR), Neimenster Luxembourg (LU), Odessa Jazz Fest (UA), Opderschmelz Dudelange (LU), Philharmonie Luxembourg (LU), Ploiesti Jazz Festival (RO), Speicher Bad Homburg (DE), Sunset-Sunside Paris (FR), Unterfahrt Munich (DE), Vinnytsia Jazz Festival (UA), ...
: PRESS QUOTES
[Michel Meis] sweeps Daddy’s jazz up a notch by modernising it with electro beats, navigating between compositions, improvisation and experimentation. – Jazz News (FR)
A modern and experimental jazz that manages to be bold without falling into incomprehensibility. – Le Jazzophone (FR)
An instrumental gem. Solid stuff throughout. – Midwest Record (US)
The four musicians, despite their progressiveness in playing, always manage to let the jazzy roots shine through. The compositions and interpretations are refreshing. – Concerto (AT)
A play both subtle and powerful, a music both free and well structured. – Jazz Magazine (FR)
The music on this eight-piece album is anything but traditional. He has achieved a nice balance between free passages and beautifully written parts. – Jazzism (NL)
A resolutely modern jazz and an album like a rollercoaster, between energy and melancholy. – Le Quotidien (LU)
Meis delivered with “Lost in Translation” a beautiful and especially intimate album. Worth listening. – Draai om je oren (BE)
A quartet whose timbre is, thanks to the trombonist Alisa Klein, reminiscent of the trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire. – Télérama (FR)
The Michel Meis 4tet shows how exciting the young jazz scene in Luxembourg is and delivers with “Lost in Translation” an interesting debut album. – Jazzthetik (DE)
: BIOGRAPHY
Michel Meis belongs to the new generation of Luxembourgish jazz musicians. He studied jazz drums with Oliver Strauch and Georg Ruby at the Hochschule für Musik Saar in Saarbrücken and regularly proves his versatility and openness through numerous projects. Besides his own jazz project, the Michel Meis 4tet, he currently plays with Everwaiting Serenade (melodic hardcore), the Gilles Grethen Quartet (jazz), Venerem (jazz/classical) and the duo Blankx with pianist Manuel Krass (free jazz/electro).
He was recently chosen by the American drummer Jim Black to represent Luxembourg at Criss Cross Europe, a European project aimed at promoting exchanges between young musicians under the mentorship of an internationally established musician. Michel Meis exclusively plays cymbals by the famous Swiss manufacturer Paiste.
