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Jazz Articles about John McNeil
John McNeil's Backbone
by Ben Waltzer
Like many trumpeters, John McNeil has a unique brand above his upper lip where flesh meets metal. It looks like a setting sun, and was visible from up close, as he removed his instrument from his mouth, rose steadily from his stool, and grasped the microphone. “This is the part of any jazz gig where the band plays a blues and one of us talks over it. That's how you know it's jazz...I think," said McNeil, 62, ...
Continue ReadingJohn McNeil and Bill McHenry: Chill Morn He Climb Jenny
by Raul d'Gama Rose
Navigating the wide avenue of American Song can be boring, because the same charts appear on album after album; but when musicians either pick little-known charts of the celebrated composers of the American Songbook, or add little-known composers to that musical tome, things get quirky, but utterly refreshing. This is exactly the case in point regarding Chill Morn He Climb Jenny, the anagrammatic title that would otherwise spell the names of thois quirky duo--trumpeter John McNeil and tenor saxophonist, Bill ...
Continue ReadingJohn McNeil: More Than Just Notes, Man
by Terrell Kent Holmes
Trumpeter John McNeil arrived in New York in the early 1970s and has played with such luminaries as Thad Jones, Mel Lewis, Horace Silver and Gerry Mulligan. He has led his own bands since 1980 and his recordings have garnered worldwide critical acclaim. In addition to his touring schedule, McNeil co-leads a quartet with saxophonist Bill McHenry every Sunday night at Biscuit BBQ (formerly Night and Day) in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn. With his eyes frequently brimming with ...
Continue ReadingThe John McNeil / Bill McHenry Quartet at the Village Vanguard
by Budd Kopman
The John McNeil / Bill McHenry Quartet at The Village VanguardThe Village VanguardNew York CityAugust 22, 2007 Trumpeter John McNeil, whose release East Coast Cool was on many “Best of--" lists for 2006, has created a band that fulfills his personal musical vision. This quartet, with tenor saxophonist Bill McHenry, bassist Joe Martin and drummer Jochen Ruekert, plays regularly on Sundays at the Biscuit BBQ restaurant in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and thus is a ...
Continue ReadingJohn McNeil: East Coast Cool
by Budd Kopman
The best jazz is always at least a bit subversive--it does the unexpected, perhaps even setting the listener up for something, only to slap him about it later. Jazz can be the epitome of unpredictability and subversion when musicians play around the melody or forego it altogether, when they fracture the harmony and stretch it to its limits, or when they purposefully thwart a rhythmic pattern. This is the jazz you remember, the albums that get played over and over, ...
Continue ReadingJohn McNeil: East Coast Cool
by AAJ Italy Staff
Le magie sonore che scaturirono dal quartetto pianoless di Gerry Mulligan e Chet Baker in una stagione tanto breve quanto intensa, hanno lasciato il segno in più di una generazione di appassionati. John McNeil, trombettista e compositore, già a fianco del grande baritonista e membro di varie orchestre tributo, evita accuratamente una rilettura filologica di quella musica e realizza con questo CD un'idea tanto semplice quanto geniale. Recuperare, attraverso una formazione analoga, principi compositivi e criteri di arrangiamento tipici di ...
Continue ReadingJohn McNeil: East Coast Cool
by Brian P. Lonergan
Trumpeter/composer John McNeil is after a “third stream of sorts with East Coast Cool. His avowed purpose is to meld the cool jazz feel of the Gerry Mulligan/Chet Baker quartet (which featured baritone sax and trumpet, but no piano) with the more decentralized approach and edge of modern free jazz. While it's impossible to know how the masters of yesterday might have approached this challenge, McNeil (who played with Mulligan and arranged for his tribute band) submits a pretty convincing ...
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