Ben Meigners

Ben Meigners is a bassist who has been part of New York's West Village jazz scene since moving from Israel in 2002. Mentored early on by Dennis Irwin and Steve Blum, he became the unofficial house bassist at Fat Cat, where for several years he anchored as many as seven different groups a week, among them the Harry Whitaker Trio, the Fat Cat Big Band, the Billy Kaye Band, and Saul Rubin's septet, alongside his own group Smashing Molek. He has worked in bands led by Andy Bey, Freddie Redd, Roy Hargrove, Jimmy Cobb, Slide Hampton, and Frank Wess, and holds the bass chair in projects with George Braith, Chris Byars, and Sacha Perry. Rooted in the bebop and straight-ahead tradition, he is a regular presence on the bandstands of clubs such as Smalls and Ornithology.