Trombonist, composer, arranger, educator Ed Neumeister is an artist operating at the forefront of creative music for more than forty years, with more than a dozen compelling releases under his own name (most recently, What Have I Done? and Explorations), and countless collaborations. He continues to create thought-provoking music for curious ears; music that challenges, inspires and delights.
Neumeister’s upcoming release, Covers, takes the listener on a trip through familiar tunes that resonated from his youth – five by the Beatles, two by Led Zeppelin, one made famous by Otis Redding and another just hatched only a few years ago by Taylor Swift. His core band features Gary Versace on piano, organ/accordion, Drew Gress on bass and Tom Rainey on drums, and is augmented by the “Covers Horn Section” of Billy Drewes, Caroline Davis and Ingrid Laubrock. Bassist Cameron Brown appears on three tunes as well.
Neumeister put his stamp on these beloved tunes from the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, and he encourages the others, particularly Versace, to bring their own personal expression to the proceedings. “Gary and I talk about what he should play on these tunes, but I trust him implicitly,” said the leader. “He always plays exactly what’s needed without overplaying. He’s been in my quartet for years now so we have a great connection. We seem to know what each other will play before playing it.” In addition to being the leader and arranger, Neumeister is the “singer” of these timeless melodies. Through his highly-developed techniques on trombone, and use of an array of plungers and mutes, his singular voice gives these melodies a newly-harvested sound.
The idea for doing Covers came about because Neumeister loves expressing beautiful melodies, and it was pointed out to him that he has not recorded any standards in a while. The artist elaborates, “it was suggested by several people that I do my treatments of some rock, pop and R&B tunes from my youth. Since I grew up with the Beatles and vividly remember when the White Album was released, those tunes were a natural. Added to that were my days playing with Jerry Garcia in the great Bay Area band Reconstruction with Merl Saunders, Ron Stallings, Gaylord Birch and John Kahn. We played Jerry’s version of the Beatles’ ‘Dear Prudence’ every night to a great response, so that tune was a natural as well. Throw in a couple of tunes by Led Zeppelin, who I used to go see at the Fillmore West when I was still in high school, and ‘Try a Little Tenderness,’ a big hit for Wilson Picket in the ’60s and I remember hearing Linda Tillery sing it with the very influential Bay Area band Loading Zone, and I had the bulk of the material for the album.” Due to the hubbub about Taylor Swift as of late, Neumeister gave her albums a listen to see if anything resonated with him. “I discovered her tune ‘The Last Great American Dynasty’ (from 2020’s Folklore), so I decided to add my treatment to that,” said Neumeister.
“I’ve worked with Ed since the ’80s, when we played in the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra together. We’ve done many projects since in Europe and New York, and now he plays in my Nonet. He is an inspired arranger, composer and conductor, as well as a soloist of deep expressive passion.” – Joe Lovano
In the past years, Neumeister has focused on more modern approaches – sometimes abstract or experimental. But the priority is always on the groove and the melody. Whether free form or structured, the groove is always the master, or should be, and melody is always of prime concern. Sometimes these elements are easily discernable in Neumeister’s music, and other times more elusive, but ever present and deep in the musical texture. Neumeister elaborates, “I’ve always loved playing good melodies while putting my own personal touches in the statement of the melodies and in the arrangements themselves. We’ve accomplished that on Covers, and this project also let me delve into my history, especially my younger days when I hardly knew what jazz was. I’m still not sure . . . but that’s a whole other conversation.”
The extensiveness and profundity of Neumeister’s experience informs every note he composes and plays. The strain of musicianship, technique and inventiveness heard from Neumeister on his albums and collaborations has remarkably deep roots, stretching back to the earliest days of being a teenage, professional musician in the Bay Area, featured in high level marching bands, collaborating with Jerry Garcia (in the band, Reconstruction), backing up the likes of Chuck Berry, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Frank Sinatra, embarking on a creative sojourn to Amsterdam, winning the first trombone chair with the Sacramento Symphony, and numerous other gigs, finally arriving in NYC in 1980 where he quickly became a “first-call” for Lionel Hampton, The Duke Ellington Orchestra (in which he played the trombone book made famous by Joe ‘Tricky Sam” Nanton), the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra (alongside Joe Lovano, Kenny Garrett and Tom Harrell), a stint with Buddy Rich, and many others. Neumeister has basically “worked with everyone,” as they say, including a forty year musical relationship with Joe Lovano (currently a member of his Nonet), Gerry Mulligan’s Concert Band, the aforementioned Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, which became the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra after Lewis’ passing (Neumeister’s arrangement of “A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square” on the album To You: A Tribute To Mel Lewis, was nominated for a Grammy Award), and many others. On top of all this, he has been leading his own ensembles throughout his entire career, and they have served as vehicles for his prolific output as a composer/arranger.
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