John McNeil Quartet

Trumpet player and noted pedagogue John McNeil has been an active member of the modern jazz community for nearly 25 years. Getting his start as a touring member of the Horace Silver Quartet in the late ’70s, McNeil has appeared on a number of recordings as a capable sideman while also releasing ten albums, including 2001’s Fortuity, as a bandleader. As a member of the New England Conservatory of Music’s esteemed faculty for more than two decades, McNeil has influenced a whole generation of up-and-coming players. His two-volume technical primer The Art of Jazz Trumpet stands as one of the essential tools of the trade for aspiring students of the style. With an approach to the horn like few others, McNeil represents a bridge between the post-hard-bop/free-jazz era and the more contemporary slant of the ’80s modern jazz movement.