Home » Search Center » Results: Jim McNeely
Results for "Jim McNeely"
Results for pages tagged "Jim McNeely"...
Jim McNeely
Born:
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.
2019: Striking A Balance In Review, Part 2
by Henning Bolte
Part 1 | Part 2This is the second part of an article that looks back and reflects on experiences with live music in 2019. This part deals with a musician's legacy (Ornette Coleman) and continues with an examination of artistic developments and dynamics in the jazz field in a festival (Jazzfest Berlin) and related ...
Judy Niemack: New York Stories
by Angelo Leonardi
Non è tra le cantanti più celebri del jazz moderno, ma è certamente tra le più brave. A differenza di quanto accade oggi nel mondo delle vocalist, Judy Niemack non fa surfing da uno stile all'altro ma continua a esaltare la tradizione vocale nata dal bop e dal cool jazz. E lo fa in maniera splendida, ...
Big Heart Machine: Big Heart Machine
by Angelo Leonardi
L'universo dell'orchestrazione jazz non cessa di regalare sorprese. Mentre è imminente l'uscita del secondo album di Brian Krock intitolato Liddle--occupiamoci del debutto della sua Big Hearth Machine. Che sia qualcosa di straordinario lo s'intuisce vedendo Darcy James Argue nel ruolo di produttore e Miho Hazama occuparsi della concreta direzione orchestrale. Brian Krock, che ha scritto tutte ...
Jennifer Wharton's Bonegasm: Bonegasm
by Dan Bilawsky
The bass trombone occupies a unique niche, serving as that most powerful of pedal peddlers, the anchor of a big band's brass section, and the ballast stabilizing harmonies. Unfortunately, the instrument also holds status as a seriously pigeonholed force. While you can't argue with the usefulness of its robust, below-the-staff whole notes, this horn is made ...
61st GRAMMY Awards: Jazz Winners
And the winners of the 2019 GRAMMY Awards are... 31. Best Improvised Jazz Solo For an instrumental jazz solo performance. Two equal performers on one recording may be eligible as one entry. If the soloist listed appears on a recording billed to another artist, the latter's name is in parenthesis for identification. Singles or Tracks only. ...
Jazz Scores And Analysis By Richard Lawn Now Available!
Jazz Scores and Analysis, Vol. 1 by Rick Lawn Full scores and in-depth analysis of contemporary, large ensemble works by six Grammy-nominated composers: Vince Mendoza, Bob Mintzer, Jim McNeely, John Fedchock, John Hollenbeck, and Darcy James Argue. Following in the footsteps of Rayburn Wright's seminal work, Inside the Score, this book gives a guided ...
Barefoot Dances and Other Visions
By Jim McNeely
Label: Planet Arts
Released: 2018
Track listing: Bob’s Here; Black Snow; Barefoot Dances; A Glimmer of Hope; Redman Rides Again; Falling Upwards; The Cosmic Hodge-Podge.
Jerome Wilson's Best Releases Of 2018
by Jerome Wilson
It may be unwieldy to keep a large jazz ensemble together for economic reasons but this year was still full of outstanding big band recordings, whether done through commissions, arrangers working with established orchestras or even actual working ensembles. Several of the releases on my list are examples of that. Also this year had the usual ...
Jim McNeely: Barefoot Dances and Other Visions
by Jerome Wilson
When today's top composer-arrangers of large ensemble jazz are discussed, Jim McNeely's name sometimes gets overlooked. He deserves the recognition. He's been a long- time associate of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra and its descendant, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, and he's also done a lot of work with several European big bands. It could be ...
