Biography
Jazz trombonist, composer, and arranger Ed Neumeister brings an inventive approach to performance, allowing his tone to move fluidly across avant-garde free jazz, swinging post-bop, and modern classical idioms. Although frequently noted for his contributions to large ensembles, he first gained traction amid the lively West Coast environment of the mid-1970s, later securing a place in New York with the Mel Lewis Big Band. Recognition arrived through that affiliation when his arrangement of “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” earned a Grammy nomination in 1992. Strong European connections also mark his career; for nearly two decades he served on the faculty of the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, collaborating with figures that include the late pianist Fritz Pauer, singer Jay Clayton, and drummer John Hollenbeck. His recorded work as a leader reflects wide-ranging tastes, encompassing the exploratory small-group session New Standards from 2002, the expansive 2017 release Wake Up Call with his NeuHat Ensemble, and the unaccompanied trombone recital One and Only issued in 2019.
Neumeister entered the world in Topeka, Kansas, in 1952 and spent his childhood in Fremont, California. At five he took up his father’s trumpet, switching to trombone four years later upon joining the local Weldonian marching band. Participation in that ensemble’s stage jazz band soon introduced him to the repertoire of Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, and Count Basie, while exposure to J.J. Johnson, Curtis Fuller, and Frank Rosolino sparked his interest in improvisation. During his teenage years he performed regularly throughout the Bay Area and played in a rock-and-roll unit that supported Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell, and Chuck Berry. After graduation he attended the University of California in San Jose, studying privately with Bob Szabo and completing composition and orchestration coursework under Lou Harrison. Seeking broader horizons, he relocated to Paris in 1973, then spent two years in Amsterdam with a Latin jazz group that immersed him in African, Afro-Cuban, and Brazilian traditions.
Returning to San Francisco in 1975, Neumeister studied with Mitchell Ross and secured engagements with the San Francisco Ballet and Opera as well as the principal trombone chair in the Sacramento Symphony Orchestra. This period deepened both his jazz and classical command as he immersed himself in Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Béla Bartók, and Gustav Mahler. Additional jazz opportunities followed, among them membership in a group led by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead and formation of a quartet alongside Michael Formanek, Jerry Granelli, and Mark Levine. Theater work placed him in the pit band behind Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and Sarah Vaughan. In 1980 he moved to New York City, establishing himself as a sought-after big-band specialist with Lionel Hampton, Buddy Rich, Mel Lewis, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, and the Gerry Mulligan Concert Jazz Band. Composition and arranging became central pursuits under the guidance of Manny Albam and Bob Brookmeyer, culminating in the 1992 Grammy-nominated arrangement already noted on the Mel Lewis Orchestra album To You: A Tribute to Mel Lewis.
As a bandleader Neumeister debuted in 1996 with the drummer-less trio recording The Mohican and The Great Spirit, featuring guitarist Peter Eigenmann and bassist Hami Hammerli. The following year brought Metro Music, which presented his quintet and quartet charts performed by Kenny Werner, Jim McNeely, Dennis Irwin, and additional colleagues. European activity intensified during the same decade; from 1999 to 2017 he held the jazz trombone professorship at the University of Performing Arts in Graz and taught composition at the Swiss conservatory in Lucerne. A 1999 collaboration with the Jazz Big Band Graz produced Here & There, devoted to his original pieces and charts. Two years afterward the same orchestra documented his extended “Fantasy for Cello & Big Band” with cellist Friedrich Kleinhapl. Classical interests continued with a 1997 premiere, at the International Trombone Festival in Austria, of his arrangement of Béla Bartók material for the New York Trombone Quartet, later preserved on the album Collage.
The 2005 album New Standards introduced his quartet with pianist Fritz Pauer, bassist Drew Gress, and drummer John Hollenbeck; the same personnel reconvened for Reflection the next year. Suite Ellington, recorded in 2010 and released in 2016, explored the music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn with saxophonist and clarinetist Billy Drewes, trumpeter Jim Rotondi, bassist Peter Herbert, drummer Jeff Ballard, and pianist Pauer, who died in 2012. Around this juncture Neumeister resettled permanently in the United States and accepted teaching appointments at the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music at The New School, New York University, William Paterson University, Rutgers, and City College of New York. Wake Up Call, issued in 2017 with the NeuHat Ensemble and recorded in Brooklyn, addressed political and environmental themes. One and Only, his debut solo-trombone project, appeared in 2019. The archival trio session 3 for the Road, featuring singer Jay Clayton and pianist Pauer, surfaced in 2020.
Neumeister entered the world in Topeka, Kansas, in 1952 and spent his childhood in Fremont, California. At five he took up his father’s trumpet, switching to trombone four years later upon joining the local Weldonian marching band. Participation in that ensemble’s stage jazz band soon introduced him to the repertoire of Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, and Count Basie, while exposure to J.J. Johnson, Curtis Fuller, and Frank Rosolino sparked his interest in improvisation. During his teenage years he performed regularly throughout the Bay Area and played in a rock-and-roll unit that supported Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell, and Chuck Berry. After graduation he attended the University of California in San Jose, studying privately with Bob Szabo and completing composition and orchestration coursework under Lou Harrison. Seeking broader horizons, he relocated to Paris in 1973, then spent two years in Amsterdam with a Latin jazz group that immersed him in African, Afro-Cuban, and Brazilian traditions.
Returning to San Francisco in 1975, Neumeister studied with Mitchell Ross and secured engagements with the San Francisco Ballet and Opera as well as the principal trombone chair in the Sacramento Symphony Orchestra. This period deepened both his jazz and classical command as he immersed himself in Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Béla Bartók, and Gustav Mahler. Additional jazz opportunities followed, among them membership in a group led by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead and formation of a quartet alongside Michael Formanek, Jerry Granelli, and Mark Levine. Theater work placed him in the pit band behind Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and Sarah Vaughan. In 1980 he moved to New York City, establishing himself as a sought-after big-band specialist with Lionel Hampton, Buddy Rich, Mel Lewis, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, and the Gerry Mulligan Concert Jazz Band. Composition and arranging became central pursuits under the guidance of Manny Albam and Bob Brookmeyer, culminating in the 1992 Grammy-nominated arrangement already noted on the Mel Lewis Orchestra album To You: A Tribute to Mel Lewis.
As a bandleader Neumeister debuted in 1996 with the drummer-less trio recording The Mohican and The Great Spirit, featuring guitarist Peter Eigenmann and bassist Hami Hammerli. The following year brought Metro Music, which presented his quintet and quartet charts performed by Kenny Werner, Jim McNeely, Dennis Irwin, and additional colleagues. European activity intensified during the same decade; from 1999 to 2017 he held the jazz trombone professorship at the University of Performing Arts in Graz and taught composition at the Swiss conservatory in Lucerne. A 1999 collaboration with the Jazz Big Band Graz produced Here & There, devoted to his original pieces and charts. Two years afterward the same orchestra documented his extended “Fantasy for Cello & Big Band” with cellist Friedrich Kleinhapl. Classical interests continued with a 1997 premiere, at the International Trombone Festival in Austria, of his arrangement of Béla Bartók material for the New York Trombone Quartet, later preserved on the album Collage.
The 2005 album New Standards introduced his quartet with pianist Fritz Pauer, bassist Drew Gress, and drummer John Hollenbeck; the same personnel reconvened for Reflection the next year. Suite Ellington, recorded in 2010 and released in 2016, explored the music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn with saxophonist and clarinetist Billy Drewes, trumpeter Jim Rotondi, bassist Peter Herbert, drummer Jeff Ballard, and pianist Pauer, who died in 2012. Around this juncture Neumeister resettled permanently in the United States and accepted teaching appointments at the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music at The New School, New York University, William Paterson University, Rutgers, and City College of New York. Wake Up Call, issued in 2017 with the NeuHat Ensemble and recorded in Brooklyn, addressed political and environmental themes. One and Only, his debut solo-trombone project, appeared in 2019. The archival trio session 3 for the Road, featuring singer Jay Clayton and pianist Pauer, surfaced in 2020.
Albums
Singles
