Adi Meyerson has studied with bassist Ron Carter and worked with pianist Monika Herzig, among others—and whether it’s been advice on touring or how to handle an instrument, the New York bassist has come away with important lessons.
While Meyerson’s quartet Dark Matter—set to perform as part of the inaugural Charlottesville JazzFest, which runs from June 4-7—is a post-bop ensemble with improvisation built into its song structures, she’s forged a career beyond the genre’s strictures.
She’s worked on hip-hop projects and written music showcasing vocalists, and though it might not be immediately apparent in Dark Matter’s music, all those experiences have seeped into her ensemble.
“I’ve been exploring the sampler, and I’ve had a couple pedals,” she says. “I don’t think I’m going to make an ambient-jazz record, but I do want to kind of try to play with it.”
There’s an inherent freedom in that perspective, as well as in Meyerson’s music, which belies an exacting attitude toward composition. That kind of indeterminacy is how she formed Dark Matter, a name she landed on after reading The Jazz of Physics: The Secret Link Between Music and the Structure of the Universe by scientist Stephon Alexander.
Gary Funston, who co-founded the Charlottesville Jazz Society about 20 years ago and programmed the upcoming festival, saw Meyerson’s ensemble play last year. He was blown away. “She has a killer band, and we talked at the time and just kept in touch,” says Funston, who started figuring out how to bring the bandleader back to town.
For her Friday set at Miller’s, Meyerson will be accompanied by saxophonist Alden Hellmuth and a pair of Virginia-bred players: multi-instrumentalist Marcus Tenney, perhaps best known as a member of Butcher Brown, and drummer Kofi Shepsu.
The impetus for the jazz society to host the event with more than a dozen shows on the Downtown Mall came a few years back, when Funston attended the Lake Anna Jazz Fest and realized what was possible in Charlottesville.
Funston estimates he’s put on hundreds of shows at a handful of venues during the past two decades, including recent performances at Unity of Charlottesville, as well as the now-shuttered Fellini’s restaurant and Tin Whistle Irish Pub. He says they’ve mostly been handshake deals.
Over time, some acts have been able to summon a few hundred area jazz fans to their shows—like saxophonist Houston Person, UVA educator and flutist Nicole Mitchell, as well as Richmond’s Michael Hawkins and the Brotherhood. It’s seemingly primed Charlottesville for the festival, and Funston says he’s already been inundated by local and regional acts interested in being a part of next year’s bill.
Headlining the festivities for this year’s event is Charlottesville native Veronica Swift, a vocalist whose parents—singer Stephanie Nakasian and the late pianist Hod O’Brien—initiated her into a life of performing at a young age. Since leaving Virginia, Swift has led groups internationally, released a raft of solo projects, and currently tours as a member of trumpeter Chris Botti’s ensemble.
Funston recalls Swift singing Christmas carols alongside her parents during a holiday performance in the early 2000s and refers to her inclusion on the bill as an “obvious choice.”
But Swift’s work readily contrasts with Meyerson’s Dark Matter ensemble, which ranks among the festival’s most avant-garde offerings. Funston’s tastes lean that way, he says, though the jazz society board reigned him in a bit.
Meyerson’s acoustic group is set to issue a recording in 2027, comprising tunes the bassist has been playing for more than a year. During its Charlottesville set, the bandleader says there will be some new fare included.
“F.A.F.O.,” a tune on the pending album, opens with a bit of funky bass and drums before the horns add in additional rhythmic underpinning. Trumpet and sax trade solos back and forth, supported by the bandleader’s sturdy low end.
“What’s cool about being able to play it live and playing with different bands … is we get a different angle every time, so it stays fresh,” says Meyerson. “I also try to remind myself, just because I’m playing it a lot doesn’t mean the audience has heard it 100,000 times.”
Meyerson called “Goomi,” another track from the album, “loose,” explaining that “every time we play it, it comes out different.” But that undersells the scaffolding she’s set up, allowing for Hellmuth and a pair of trumpeters to find their own way to the next unison line.
Punctiform, a recent collaboration with beatmaker steel tipped dove, is made up of left field hip-hop production and Meyerson’s acoustic and electric bass—and it doesn’t necessarily come to bear directly on the Dark Matter material. But the bandleader says each recording she’s worked on feels connected and linear.
“I have a lot of sides to my personality and a lot of things to say,” Meyerson says. “I hope the listener is down for the ride.”
Adi Meyerson will perform at Miller’s Downtown on Friday, June 5. Go to cvillejazz.org for a full schedule of JazzFest shows.
