John McNeil, A Trumpeter Robbed Of His Breath, Blows Again

NPR STAFF
DECEMBER 27, 2014 6:01 PM ET
John McNeil may be the most important trumpet player you've never heard of.

Many aspiring musicians know him as an educator, through his many instructional books like The Art of Jazz Trumpet. But getting to know McNeil as a performer or recording artist hasn't always been easy: his records could be tough to find.

The musician suffers from a neurological disorder — Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, which, despite its name, has nothing to do with your teeth. At its worst, it robbed him of his ability to perform for years at a time.


Now at age 66, McNeil is back. He's in a band, Hush Point, with a group of much younger musicians; their latest album is Blues and Reds. He tells NPR's Arun Rath about the medical advances that enabled his recovery, and how the age difference does — or rather, doesn't — affect him and his bandmates.

read more: http://news360.com/digestarticle/tCBhcrbIDEuwg629X6rmMw
John McNeil - trumpet
Jeremy Udden - alto saxophone
Aryeh Kobrinsky - bass
Anthony Pinciotti - drums

New album Blues and Reds now available on Sunnyside Records

John McNeil was born in 1948 in northern California....

...plays his horn with a soulfulness that is rarely heard these days. [His] poetic, dusky-toned trumpet is very close to song." — Chicago Tribune.

JOHN McNEIL is regarded as one of the most original and creative jazz artists in the world today. For over three decades John has toured with his own groups and has received widespread acclaim as both a player and composer. His highly personal trumpet style communicates across the full range of contemporary jazz, and his compositions combine harmonic freedom with melodic accessibility. John's restless experimentation has kept him on the cutting edge of new music and has kept him from being easily categorized.

Although his background includes such mainstream jazz groups as the Horace Silver Quintet, Gerry Mulligan, and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, John is equally at home in free and structured settings. This stylistic versatility has put him on stage with such disparate artists as Slide Hampton and John Abercrombie, and shows itself in the combination of free and structured elements found in his CDs recorded on the OmniTone label from 2003 to '06.

Rediscovery, John's latest release (co-led with fellow individualist and tenor icon Bill McHenry), takes the free/structured approach to a different level as they redefine the harmonic boundaries of a number of forgotten or neglected jazz classics.

BIO
John McNeil was born in 1948 in northern California. Due to a lack of available musical instruction in his home town of Yreka, John largely taught himself to play trumpet and read music. By the time he graduated from high school in 1966, John had already begun playing professionally in the northern California region.

John moved to New York in the mid-1970's and began a freelance career. His reputation as an innovative trumpet voice began to grow as he played with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, and led his own groups at clubs such as Boomer's, the legendary Village jazz room. In the late 70's, John joined the Horace Silver Quintet. Around the same time, he began recording for the SteepleChase label under his own name and toured internationally.

Although he has worked as a sideman with such luminaries as Gerry Mulligan, John has consistently led his own groups from about 1980 to the present. He has recorded numerous albums that have met with excellent reviews, and continues to record with similar acclaim. In the 1990's, John became increasingly in demand as a writer, arranger, and record producer. He continues these activities in addition to his usual schedule of live performance.

Tour:
The JOHN McNEIL QUARTET will be taking a brief hiatus from their regular Wednesday gig at Puppets Jazz Bar. The gig may start up again on March 31st, but it definitely will be on as of Wednesday, April 7th.
The new time will be from 8:30 to 11:15, with another band at 11:30.

John McNeil Trumpet Bill McHenry Tenor Joe Martin Bass Jochen Rueckert Drums play "Carson City Stage" by the late Carson Smith at Biscuit BBQ Brooklyn NY Jan 7 2007