J.B. MELDRUM BIO
Born in the USA, alive and well in Paris, singer-songwriter and music educator, John B. Meldrum brings together American and European visions of what music can be and what it can do. A child of the sixties and seventies, his icons were John Lennon and Martin Luther King: a rocker and a preacher, two exceptional visionaries. With Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon and Mozart's Magic Flute as touchstones on his path, JB Meldrum’s artistic searchlight seeks beauty beyond boundaries with his every creation.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, John has lived in Paris, France for over 30 years. Home for foreign artists seeking artistic freedom in the spirit of interdisciplinary experimentation, Paris has given him a lively mix of cultures coupled with a quality of life and a love of beauty.
Meldrum taught himself guitar at the age of 9 from the riffs of Chuck Berry. At 15 he discovered classical music with his first great master Mr. William Appling, a Black American who taught him to sing Bach, Fauré and Mozart and who found him an excellent guitar teacher at the Cleveland Music Settlement, Christoph Harlan. His second great master was Eli Kassner at the University of Toronto in Canada where he earned his Bachelor in Classical Guitar in 1982. John worked in Cleveland as a writer-arranger-producer of music for adverstisements until May 1988 when he left for Europe.
At the beginning of his Paris years he worked for 5 years as rhythm guitarist and backing singer for his third great master the Ghanaian drummer Freduia Agymang in the group AGYSTATION. John learned the intricate guitar stylings of High Life music and the rhythms of Reggae and Rumba. He also began to give music lessons which bettered himself at the piano and as a pedagogue. Teaching remains a way to continue his calling as a creative artist.
From the early recordings of his pop/rock debut no rules here (1995) to his explorations of West African rhythms on Zongo Ambassadors Ayijah (1999), Meldrum’s mastery of structure and style reveal an artist to be reckoned with. Gifted guitar work and heartfelt vocals make his pop-folk album Long Live Love (2004) a melancholy masterpiece.
After 5 years of research and preparation, JB Meldrum hit his mark in 2009 with a large scale work: Peace Oratorio. Inspired by the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Meldrum used Gospel, High-Life, Reggae and Classical music styles for the 17 compositions in the show. With 75 performers onstage singing to packed audiences in Paris in 2012 and 2013, Meldrum’s work spread the word of King’s concept of universal brotherhood and non-violence.
DORIAN GRAY: In 2015 Meldrum created a Rock-Opera based on the work by Oscar Wilde and he workshopped the compositions with students from the French music school, ATLA, and the ICMP schools (Paris and London). The work was performed with musicians, soloists, a choir and a V-Jay for a mind-blowing, genre bending spectacle.
Meldrum then studied the correspondence of the Mozart family to create a pop opera: The Lost Letters. The book, lyrics and composition took seven years of research and experimentation and culminated in 11 performances from 2015-2019. By turning these letters into songs he’s developed a unique method of creativity: Songwriting with Source Materials.
With his latest project Visions of Johanna: a Retrospective of the Songs of Bob Dylan performed by JB Meldrum, he has plunged into the vast repertoire of our greatest living poet-musician. By studying Dylan’s songs and exploring the different harmonies that accompany them, Meldrum has employed his talents as an arranger to deliver fresh yet faithful interpretations of Dylan’s songbook. An added plus to this adventure was Meldrum’s discovery of Dylan’s permanent installation in forged iron at the Château La Coste in southern France last summer: RAIL CAR. The sculpture inspired him to write a song in honor of Dylan’s monumental masterpiece, which Meldrum deems to be a kind of return to France of their gift to America of the Statue of Liberty.
Meldrum is currently composing ODYSSEUS - an original adaptation of the world’s oldest song-poem The Odyssey by Homer, AKA the singer of tales. In addition, Meldrum conducts Master Classes in Songwriting during artistic residencies in Europe where he also develops new projects.
Contact: c/o ZAP ARTIST MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL
Robert Eggleton, General Partner
337 Savannah Highway # 621
Beaufort, S.C. 29906 U.S.A.
www.ZAPAMI.com
J.B. MELDRUM BIO- Français
Né aux États-Unis, bien vivant à Paris, l'auteur-compositeur-interprète JB Meldrum a eu des visions de ce que la musique peut être et faire. Enfant des années soixante et soixante-dix, ses icônes étaient John Lennon et Martin Luther King : un rocker et un prêcheur, tous deux visionnaires exceptionnels. Utilisant Dark Side Of The Moon de Pink Floyd et La Flûte enchantée de Mozart comme pierres de touche sur son chemin unique, le parcours artistique de JB Meldrum continue de rechercher la beauté au-delà des frontières dans tout ce qu'il crée.
Depuis les premiers enregistrements de son premier album pop/rock no rules here (1995) jusqu'à ses explorations des rythmes d'Afrique de l'Ouest sur Zongo Ambassadors Ayijah (1999), la maîtrise de la structure et du style de JB Meldrum révèle un artiste avec lequel il faut compter. Un travail de guitare talentueux et une voix sincère font de son album pop-folk Long Live Love (2004) un chef-d'œuvre mélancolique.
Après cinq années de recherche, Meldrum a frappé un grand coup en 2009 avec une œuvre de grande envergure : Peace Oratorio. Inspiré par le concept de fraternité universelle du Dr King, il a utilisé les styles Gospel, High-Life et Reggae pour ce spectacle. Avec 75 artistes sur scène pour chanter l'égalité des droits pour tous devant une salle comble à Paris, il a accompli sa mission.
JB Meldrum a ensuite imaginé un opéra pop basé sur la correspondance de la famille Mozart: The Lost Letters. Jouée 11 fois depuis 2015, la composition a nécessité sept ans de recherche et d'expérimentation. En distillant ces lettres en chansons, il a développé une méthode de créativité unique : Songwriting with Sources.
Avec son dernier projet Visions of Johanna : a Retrospective of the Songs of Bob Dylan interprété par JB Meldrum, il s'est plongé dans le vaste répertoire de notre plus grand poète-musicien vivant. En étudiant les chansons de Dylan et en explorant les différentes harmonies qui les accompagnent, Meldrum a amélioré son approche en tant qu'auteur-compositeur-interprète. La découverte, l'été dernier, de l'installation permanente en fer forgé de Dylan au Château La Coste, dans le sud de la France, a été un atout supplémentaire dans cette aventure : RAIL CAR. C'est le titre d'une nouvelle chanson écrite par Meldrum en l'honneur du chef-d'œuvre monumental de Dylan, que Meldrum considère comme une sorte de retour à la France du cadeau qu'elle a fait à l'Amérique avec la Statue de la Liberté.