The solo electric bass record can go a few different ways. Players often prefer the overtly technical approach, playing funky-butt speed runs that make every lesson they ever took as clear as an A+ on a report card. But Bjorn Meyer prefers a different path, one he previously followed on his solo debut Providence back in 2017. On Convergence, the former bottom-holder for Nik Bartsch’s Ronin and frequent sidedude for Anouar Brahem uses his six-string bass more subtly, even meditatively, plucking out shimmering melodies and slowly unfolding grooves. With “Convergence,” “Rewired,” and “Drift,” Meyer conjures up textures and atmospheres that hang heavy in the air, enveloping the microphone like a wool blanket – plush, yet rough on the surface. “Nesodden” incorporates a classically-inclined melody into the thrums, creating a framework for lines that float on the surface of a calm sea. Even friskly-fingered numbers like “Motion,” “Magnetique,” and “Gravity” favor tune over technique, letting the high string licks slather over the lush bottom ends with a sense of taste and grace. Meyer isn’t so much a performer here, but a composer, using his instrument to paint the pictures conjured in his mind and heart.
