Biography Jim McNeely

Jim McNeely (born 18 May 1949) is a Grammy-nominated jazz composer, arranger, and pianist.

Jim was born in Chicago, Illinois. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Illinois, and moved to New York City in 1975. In 1978 he joined the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band. He spent six years as a featured soloist with that band and its successor, Mel Lewis and the Jazz Orchestra (now The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra). 1981 saw the beginning of Jim’s 4-year tenure as pianist/composer with the Stan Getz Quartet. From 1990 until 1995 he held the piano chair in the Phil Woods Quintet. In 1996 he re-joined the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra as pianist and composer-in-residence, a position that he still holds. From 1998 to 2003 he was chief conductor of the Danish Radio (Danmarks Radio) Big Band. He also leads his own tentet, his own trio, and appears as soloist at concerts and festivals worldwide. He has recorded more than a dozen CDs under his own name, earning nine Grammy nominations between 1997 and 2006.

McNeely resides in Montclair, New Jersey. He serves as Adjunct Resident Artist in Jazz Studies at New York University, Adjunct Professor at William Paterson University, and musical director of the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop.

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