Björn Meyer
Born in Sweden and based in Switzerland since 1996, Björn Meyer grew up next to a piano, sang in a boys choir, played trumpet in the Swedish youth music program and guitar in local garage-rock bands. It wasn’t until shortly before his eighteenth birthday that a jam session put him in direct contact with the electric bass:
“A single note, played on a left alone instrument, changed my life. The instrument was an electric bass and I was a hobby guitarist just turning 18 off to study computer science. That one note resonated with the very core of my being and opened up a musical universe I had only dreamt of before. Five years later I finished my degree, took a break from computers and went on tour with my first working band. That was 1989 and I never turned back
Born in Sweden and based in Switzerland since 1996, Björn Meyer grew up next to a piano, sang in a boys choir, played trumpet in the Swedish youth music program and guitar in local garage-rock bands. It wasn’t until shortly before his eighteenth birthday that a jam session put him in direct contact with the electric bass:
“A single note, played on a left alone instrument, changed my life. The instrument was an electric bass and I was a hobby guitarist just turning 18 off to study computer science. That one note resonated with the very core of my being and opened up a musical universe I had only dreamt of before. Five years later I finished my degree, took a break from computers and went on tour with my first working band. That was 1989 and I never turned back
Meyer’s unmistakable musical handwriting draws largely from a curiosity towards “anything from music-styles, playing techniques, electronics, the construction of the actual instruments all the way to the inner windings of a string”. In addition, Meyer also considers the interaction between acoustic space and the electronic properties of the bass guitar an important part of the musical experience.
The bassist has integrated his distinct voice in the most diverse contexts, in- and outside the natural habitat of his instrument. More often than not, he has found himself in settings challenging traditional distinctions such as acoustic or electric, composed or improvised, ancient or contemporary. He has worked alongside Persian harpist and singer Asita Hamidi and is a long term collaborator with Tunisian oud master Anouar Brahem. For over a decade he was member of the minimalistic “ritual groove” collective Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin and thus helped to shape what has become known as “Zen-funk”.
In the autumn of 2017 — after six ECM releases as a sideman with Anouar Brahem The Astounding Eyes of Rita (2009) and Souvenance (2015) as well as with Nik Bärtsch's Ronin Stoa (2006), Holon (2008), Llyrìa (2010) and Live (2012) — Meyer released his first solo album Provenance on the label. At the time, BBC Music Magazine noted how on the record “he favours gentle dynamics and off-centre registral choices and also regards room acoustics as being important to his sound, so his music, subtle yet richly engaging, is genuinely ambient.”
With Convergence (2026), his second solo album on ECM produced by Manfred Eicher, he further develops music on the blueprint established with his debut. His technical innovations appear expanded in a programme of songful quality. In brief it feels complete in itself, more than a document of instrumental prowess.
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| YEAR | DATE | Artist | VENUE | LOCATION | |
| 2026 | May 14 | Anouar Brahem Quartet w/ Klaus Gesing, Björn Meyer, Khaled Yassine | Victoria Hall | Geneva, Switzerland | Event |
| 2026 | May 15 | Anouar Brahem Quartet w/ Klaus Gesing, Björn Meyer, Khaled Yassine | Tonhalle | Zurich, Switzerland | Event |
| 2026 | June 12 |
Björn Meyer
"Convergence" |
St. Michaelskapelle | Freiburg, Germany | Event |