A fantastic evening to the close this year’s Guildford Jazz and Soul Festival, with the official album launch of “Elysian Drift” from the Nicolas Meier World Group. “Nicolas Meier is one of the most brilliant, original guitarists on the planet”. Nicolas Meier is one of those musicians who has deep-dived into many genres of music, resulting in a unique approach to the guitar that encompasses a mastery of jazz, Turkish idioms and metal! (He has also studied classical and flamenco, so this is all to be found in the sonic melting pot too!). Of the Turkish idioms, he has comprehensively absorbed the sounds, making use of the quarter-tone scales to outstanding effect on his fretless guitar and Glissantar (the 11-string, fretless guitar based on the Oud [Arabic lute]). Meier’s compositions and playing came to the attention of the great Jeff Beck, resulting in Jeff inviting Nick to become a mainstay part in his band – which led on to 3 world tours of major venues. Nick has also recorded with bassist Jimmy Haslip (stalwart of The Yellowjackets) and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta (Sting, Joni Mitchell, Frank Zappa…erm, everyone!). For this very special gig at Guildford Jazz, Nick brings his full ‘World Group’ sextet which features the phenomenal Randolph Matthews on vocals, the extraordinary violinist Richard Jones , virtuosic percussionist Demi Garcia Sabat , the wildly inventive pianist, Alex Hutton and Paul Michael on electric bass. Nick has performed many times at Guildford Jazz over the years, and we are delighted to be hosting the luanch of the band’s latest album as the closing event of the 2026 Jazz and Soul Festival!