Celebrating Jim McNeely

I spent the day as a volunteer helping to put together this retrospective concert honoring my graduate school mentor, Jim McNeely: an 18-piece jazz orchestra of his longtime associates playing music from across his career. The evening was conducted and organized by Rufus Reid, Mike Holober, Migiwa Miyajima, Daniel Jamieson, and Darcy James Argue, in collaboration with Jazz Composers Present. Jim passed away sixteen days later, on September 26, 2025.