One of my favorite composers is Jim McNeely. Although I was familiar with him as a pianist earlier, I didn’t discover his writing until I was a graduate student at DePaul University. While I was a student there (1992-1994) McNeely was brought in as a guest artist to perform with the Jazz Ensemble. He sent one of his new compositions, Jump Start, ahead of time and we performed it with him as a soloist. I believe that may have also been the premier performance of this chart, although I think it was later recorded by the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra.
McNeely often writes charts that are loosely based on the changes to other tunes. Jump Start, for example, was based on the changes to My Shining Hour. Another chart of his I’ve played before is Paper Spoons, based on the tune It’s Only a Paper Moon.
Ronan, from the blog Mostly Music, posted a nice interview of Jim McNeely. In it, McNeely discusses not only how he got his start as a composer, but also how he learned a great deal about jazz composing by performing contemporary chamber music as a student, his composition process, and how he approaches things like form and orchestration. It’s a great read and offers some nice insights that other composers might find helpful.
