Jazz in Texas Dave Meder

Do you have any upcoming projects or collaborations you’re excited about?
I just finished tracking my fourth album, which is my third with my current working quartet. It was funded by a CMA New Jazz Works grant. I’m excited to release it in 2025. It deals with themes of earth, soil, fertility, and ultimately the power of natural ecosystems to fight climate change and other environmental threats to our country and planet.

That’s so exciting! What are your major inspirations for your current work?
Fortunately or unfortunately for the contemporary American listener, my work is bound up with the struggles and issues of modern American life. I don’t have the answers, really…but if I had to analyze my own output so far, I guess I’m searching for some kind of commonality or unifying principle of American culture in these weird times. This is probably a hopeless goal, but it has resulted in some interesting musical explorations, and some meaningful conversations and experiences. My 2021 album Unamuno Songs and Stories used works of a Spanish Civil War era philosopher named Miguel de Unamuno to draw a historical analogy to modern day American societal polarization. I had the privilege of playing this music at the historic house of Unamuno in Salamanca, Spain this past summer. The 2023 album New American Hymnal seeks to clarify what our common American values might be, if we can still find any. Our upcoming 2025 album hones in on perhaps the most pressing issue facing our society and the world: climate change. Unfortunately, given that our incoming administration seems to not even acknowledge its existence, it is all the more important for artists to step up and draw audience attention to this threat, which is inherently a non-political issue.

As a composer, I always strive to craft music that stands on its own and can be enjoyed on its own. However, the underlying narratives often enhance the experience. I write immersive digital liner notes for all my albums and house them on my website (davemeder.com).

Can you tell me a bit more about New American Hymnal project?
New American Hymnal is a collection of metaphorical hymns about American civic culture. I was raised in church, so the structure and feel of a hymnal is natural to me, but I wanted to convey ideas and values that I feel are universal to the current American experience. So, the album is actually secular, but by examining and “worshipping” our cultural themes, we engage in something of a sacred process, independent of any established religion.

How has the semester been going at the University of North Texas? Is there anything happening on campus that’s particularly exciting for you?
I love the creative energy and the passion our students continually demonstrate. It’s hard to believe I am in my seventh year of teaching here. As one of the largest (if not the single largest) jazz programs in the country, and maybe the world, there is really always something exciting happening here…which it makes it simultaneously inspiring and exhausting (in the best way possible).