The Ray Conniff Jazz Ensemble Series

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Ed Neumeister is a guest artist-in-residence at the Eastman School of Music.

Christine Jensen, director

As a trombonist, composer-arranger and bandleader, Ed Neumeister is a musician’s musician. Saxophone star Joe Lovano has valued Neumeister as a colleague for some four decades, praising him as a conductor of “infectious flair” as well as “a soloist of deep expressive passion.” Another renowned saxophonist, Dave Leibman, simply dubbed him “one of the best trombonists in the business.” Neumeister has five decades of experience on both sides of the Atlantic as an artist and an educator. Raised in the Bay Area, he was a professional musician by his mid-teens. He backed such iconic vocal stars as Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan there, performed in various symphony orchestras, and collaborated with Grateful Dead leader Jerry Garcia as well as such jazz notables as Jerry Granelli. Moving to New York City in 1980, Neumeister worked in the Duke Ellington Orchestra as both player and arranger for 15 years; he was simultaneously playing in the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, earning a Grammy nomination in 1992 for his arrangement of “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square.”

In 2000, Neumeister moved to Austria to serve as a professor for 17 years at the University of Music in Graz. He wrote for various jazz bands while in Europe and performed extensively, along with composing classical chamber pieces and large-scale concert works. Following a stint scoring films in Los Angeles, Neumeister returned to the New York area where he has been active as an educator, currently teaching at the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music at The New School, New York University and City College of New York, as well as William Paterson University in New Jersey.

As a leader, Neumeister has recorded nine albums, ranging from large ensembles to small groups to solo trombone. He has released many of them via his own label, MeisteroMusic, including 3 for the Road, presenting his trio with the late vocalist Jay Clayton and the late pianist Fritz Pauer. Another Neumeister gem is Suite Ellington, an album showcasing his arrangements for an all-star sextet of works by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn; recorded in 2010 for Austrian Radio, Suite Ellington was hailed by Jazz Weekly as “a great tribute and intro to the world of Ellingtonia.” Neumeister’s new working small band is a New York quartet featuring the trombonist alongside Gary Versace, bassist Drew Gress and drummer Tom Rainey. As a quartet, the ensemble has recorded and released ground-breaking records including Covers (2024), Explorations (2023), and What Have I Done? (2021).

The Eastman Jazz Orchestra has been recognized as one of the world’s premier collegiate jazz performing organizations for three decades. Years before Eastman alumnus Chuck Mangione became the ensemble’s first faculty director, the band was established and governed by Eastman student musicians. In 1970, former Radio City Music Hall musical director Rayburn Wright was hired to develop the Eastman jazz studies and contemporary media program and in 1972 he succeeded Mangione as director of the Jazz Orchestra. Bill Dobbins, who led the group from 1989 to 1994, returned to the position in 2002 after an eight-year tenure as principal director of the WDR Radio Big Band in Cologne, Germany. Fred Sturm served as director from 1995 to 2002. Christine Jensen took over direction in 2022 after Dobbins retirement.

The Eastman Jazz Orchestra has been consistently honored over the years by the Annual Down Beat Magazine Student Music Awards for ‘Outstanding Large Ensemble’, including 2023 and 2024.  They have performed at the International Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland and in renowned concert halls throughout the world. In January 2015, the ensemble performed at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola at New York’s Lincoln Center, presenting a Billy Strayhorn tribute during the Strayhorn centennial year. Guest performers and conductors with the group have included such highly acclaimed jazz artists as Bill Holman, Clare Fischer, Bob Brookmeyer, Benny Carter, Benny Golson, Joe Henderson, Dave Holland, Joe Lovano, Bobby McFerrin, Maria Schneider, Toots Thielemans, Kenny Wheeler, Phil Woods, Danilo Pérez, Ingrid Jensen, Dafnis Prieto and Jim McNeely.
 

The Ray Conniff Jazz Ensemble Series is supported by The Ray and Vera Conniff Foundation, established in 2015 to honor the renowned Grammy-winning trombonist and arranger Ray Conniff. The foundation furthers Conniff ’s legacy by supporting future generations of musicians through scholarships and financial support.

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