Paul Meyers
World On A String
www.mileshighrecords.com
By George W. Harris

Active in the New York scene for the past 20 years, guitarist Paul Meyers has been making a name for himself specializing in the Brazilian groove. He’s played with Kenny Barron, Jon Hendricks, Frank Wess and Andy Bey , and he knows his way around a tune, as he demonstrates on this sophisticated and mellow mix of originals and covers. His delicate touch on the acoustic guitar is impeccable, and he volleys with Donny McCaslin/sax-flute, Helio Alves/p, Leo Traversa/b, an dVanderlei Pereira/dr with elasticity and precision. His own compositions like “Plum” and “River” have an intricacy that belies the apparent gentleness of the overall sound. With McClaslin, he does an interestingly abstract reading of The Beatles’ “Because” that makes complete sense. Except for the assertive “North Meets South” the mood is relaxed and refined. Good guitar work for fans of Gilberto.