Results for "Jim McNeely"

Jim McNeely

Born: May 18, 1949

Jim McNeely was born in Chicago into a musical family. His mother sang in the church choir. His father played piano by ear (only in the key of Gb). His sister and brother both took piano lessons; his brother still plays bass in and around the Chicago area. Jim started piano lessons at the age of six. When he was eight he started lessons with Bruno Michelotti, who taught him basic music theory as well as the piano. This was the beginning of Jim’s life-long love of theory and, subsequently, composition and arranging.

He began to get interested in jazz around the age of 12. He went to Notre Dame High School for Boys (now Notre Dame College Prep) partially because they had a big band, the Melodons, under the direction of Rev. George Wiskirchen.  Besides playing piano in the band he started writing big band arrangements, at the age of 16. Jim then went to the University of Illinois, again largely on the strength of their big band, led by John Garvey. There was a vibrant jazz scene there at the time: a fusion of school musicians like Ron Dewar (saxophone), Ron Elliston (piano), Charlie Braugham (drums) and Howie Smith (saxophone), along with musicians from the local scene like Ron and Cecil Bridgewater, Tony Zamora, Donald Smith and Maurice McKinley (most of whom were also involved with the university). He studied theory and composition with Ed London and Morgan Powell.

Rin Seo: City Suite

by Angelo Leonardi
June 25, 2026

Il nome di Rin Seo si aggiunge al numero delle talentose musiciste di origine asiatica che nell'ultimo ventennio hanno mostrato d'aver creativamente assimilato l'idioma musicale afro-americano. Tra esse non mancano le orchestratrici che ottengono risultati eccellenti anche grazie alla solida preparazione negli studi classici. Nata in Corea 36 anni fa, Rin Seo s'è laureata in ...

Miho Hazama: Frames

by Neil Duggan
May 21, 2026

The Frames project, led by Grammy-nominated Japanese composer and conductor Miho Hazama, features the Danish Radio Big Band. It is inspired by the band's lineage of previous musical directors, who have included Thad Jones, Palle Mikkelborg, Bob Brookmeyer and the late Jim McNeely, under whom Hazama studied upon her move to New York. The album carries ...

Miho Hazama: The Conductor Who Leads With Love

by Lawrence Peryer
May 5, 2026

Today we're putting The Tonearm's needle on composer and chief conductor of the Danish Radio Big Band, Miho Hazama. Miho grew up inside the Yamaha music education system in her native Japan. She moved to New York to study jazz composition at the Manhattan School of Music under Jim McNeely and has spent her ...

A Wind For All Seasons

by Dan Bilawsky
February 5, 2026

There is something positively elemental in the artistry of Martin Wind. Beyond being one of the music's premier bassists, he is a creatively driven composer and leader--a seemingly bottomless font of expression in action--and his work most certainly represents the breadth, and breath, carried in his name. One minute he's conjuring a Brazilian Nordeste with buoyant ...

Remembrance 2025: Jim McNeely, Chuck Mangione, Andy Bey, Eddie Palmieri and Hermeto Pascoal

by Larry Slater
January 2, 2026

Every year the jazz world loses some major artists and 2025 was no exception.In this hour, we remember the composer and arranger Jim McNeely, one of the most distinguished large ensemble jazz composers of his generation.Hermeto Pascoal was a Brazilian artist who defied classification. He became a favorite of audiences around the ...

Shuteen Erdenebaatar, Anthony Braxton, and Jim McNeely

by Jerome Wilson
November 18, 2025

This eclectic show includes music from Shuteen Erdenebaatar, Jim McNeely, Chris Connor. Anthony Braxton. and Juan Pastor.Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 Ben Tiberio “Midwife Crisis" from Rare Peace (Outside In) 00:50 Lello Molinari “Na ...

Bobby Watson, The Bad Plus, Carrie Jackson, Joe Elefante & Eddie Daniels

by Joe Dimino
October 26, 2025

We kick off the 929th episode of Neon Jazz with none other than the legendary Eddie Daniels, paying tribute to a Brazilian icon on his 2025 album To Milton with Love--opening with the gorgeous tune “Catavento." From there, we revisit the brilliance of Kansas City's own Bobby Watson with a re-release of his classic album Perpetual ...

Jake Hertzog: The Ozark Concerto

by Richard J Salvucci
September 20, 2025

As Terry Teachout very accurately wrote, “The relationship between jazz and classical music has often been close...but is ultimately equivocal" ("Jazz and Classical Music: To the Third Stream and Beyond," in Bill Kirchner, editor, The Oxford Companion to Jazz, Oxford University Press, 2000). Equivocal is a tough word. It can mean suspicious, doubtful or uncertain. Spend ...

R.I.P. Louis Moholo-Moholo

by Jerome Wilson
August 13, 2025

This program includes the work of the late drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo, the last surviving member of the South African group, the Blue Notes and a great contributor to the British jazz scene. The show also features music by Joe Lovano, John Yao, and Claire Ritter. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I ...