Jim McNeely

 

Biography

 

Jim McNeely was born in Chicago into a musical family. He 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 got 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. He played piano in that band and at the age of 16 wrote his first big band arrangement. Jim then went to the University of Illinois, again largely on the strength of their big band, led by John Garvey. He studied theory and composition with Ed London and Morgan Powell. There was a vibrant jazz scene there at the time: a fusion of musicians in the school with musicians from the local scene.
Jim occasionally wrote for the U. of I. Big Band, as well as music for chamber groups, and musical shows. He also played in a number of small jazz groups during his time there (1967-75). In addition he gained experience playing gigs with Country and Western, R & B, and various wedding bands.
In 1975 he received his composition degree and moved to New York City, to pursue a career as a jazz pianist. In 1978 he joined the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra and spent six years with that band and its successor, Mel Lewis and the Jazz Orchestra. In 1981 he began a four-year tenure with the Stan Getz Quartet, and 1990 saw him begin a five-year run with the Phil Woods Quintet. He contributed many compositions to both Stan and Phil’s bands, culminating in The Phil Woods Quintet Plays the Music of Jim McNeely (1995, TCoB). Those years also saw him perform with countless other musicians on the New York scene, in formations ranging from duo to sextet.
The focus of Jim’s career began to change from pianist to composer in 1979, when Thad Jones left the Jones/Lewis Orchestra and Mel Lewis brought in Bob Brookmeyer as musical director. Bob encouraged Jim to compose for Mel’s band. The first attempt was a disaster. But Bob heard a few worthwhile moments, and said, “Write another one.” Which he did. It was a little better. The third one (Blue Note) was even better, and Mel recorded it.
In 1983 Brookmeyer brought Jim, along with Mel Lewis, to Cologne, Germany as a soloist his project with the WDR Big Band. He started to write for the WDR band, and thus began an 11-year relationship with them. He credits his time with the WDR band as being his real jazz composer’s workshop. This led to subsequent work with UMO (Helsinki), The Stockholm Jazz Orchestra, The Metropole Orchestra (The Netherlands) and The Danish Radio Big Band, where he was chief conductor from 1998-2003. Meanwhile in the U.S. he wrote many arrangements for the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, three of which appeared on their 1996 Blue Note CD. And in 1995 he re-joined The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra (formerly Jones/Lewis), writing two CD’s for them in 1997 (Lickety Split) and 2005 (Up From the Skies).
Along with his writing for big band, Jim has written music for his ten-piece band (Group Therapy, 2001), various chamber-music pieces, and numerous orchestral compositions and arrangements, notably for The Metropole Orchestra and The Frankfurt Radio Symphony.
He was chief conductor of the Frankfurt Radio Big Band (from 2010-2022), becoming composer-in-residence in 2022. He is still composer-in-residence with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. He has recently seen the release of two CD’s featuring his writing: Rituals, with the Frankfurt Radio Big Band and Chris Potter; and Threnody, with the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw. His work has earned him ten Grammy nominations, and he was awarded a Grammy for his work with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra on Monday Night Live at the Village Vanguard.
Teaching has also been an important element of Jim’s work. He is professor emeritus in jazz composition at Manhattan School of Music. He has held positions at William Paterson University and New York University. He was involved with the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop for 24 years, including 16 years as musical director. He has appeared at numerous college jazz festivals in the U.S. as performer and clinician. He has also done clinics and major residencies at dozens of institutions in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Chile, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, and Egypt.