Michael McNeill is a pianist, improviser, and composer from Western New York. He’s involved in projects ranging from reinterpretations of music by Thelonious Monk (on the album Refractions with drummer John Bacon) to the chambercore quartet The Evolution of the Arm, which “nearly forge[s] an entirely new subgenre of sounds” (TakeEffect). Two CDs (Flight, Passageways) with bassist Ken Filiano and drummer Phil Haynes have drawn praise from critics in the US and abroad, who note that the band’s music is “brimming with intelligence and passion” (AllAboutJazz.com), and that the trio “has much to offer not only to jazz or classical music, but music as a whole” (Music On The Run, Brazil). Current projects include two EPs of telepathic improvisations with The Evolution of the Arm (Vol. 1, Vol. 2), sideperson appearances in drummer Scott Clark’s Dawn & Dusk, and solo electronic music. His quartet Allegories — featuring pedal steel guitar innovator Susan Alcorn, trumpet virtuoso Dave Ballou, and exploratory percussionist Shelly Purdy — toured and recorded in June 2022 and released Barcode Poetry on Infrasonic Press in October 2024.

Among the many musicians I've worked with professionally: Nasar Abadey, David Adamczyk, Sabu Adeyola, Susan Alcorn, Russ Algera, Aaron Allen, John Allen, John Anderson, Sarah Aranella, Dave Arenius, Katie Ashwill, John Bacon, Steve Baczkowski, Dave Ballou, Tediyra Barton-Harris, Daniel Bassin, Brad Batz, John Beck, Derrick Becker, James Benders, Abinnet Berhanu, Aaron Binder, David Bixler, Juini Booth, T.J. Borden, Andrew Borkowski, Ringo Brill, V.J. Brown, Chris Brydge, Kelly Bucheger, Adam Caine, Jeff Campbell, Ryan Campbell, Russ Carere, Jr., Russ Carere, Sr., Matt Carr, Roger Carroll, Arielle Carvajal, Lawrence Cheeley, Scott Clark, Tim Clarke, Bryan Connolly, Bill Conroy, Franco Corso, Evan Courtin, Marc Cousins, Christopher Culp, John Curry, Becky Davis, Brian DeJesus, Dave Dewitt, Phil DiRe, Kevin Doyle, Doug Dreishpoon, Andrew Drury, Alec Dube, Daniel Dufour, Daniel Durham, Aaron Easley, Kendall Eddy, Katie Ernst, Bud Fadale, Sean Farias, Rusty Farmer, Matt Felski, Ken Filiano, Mark Filsinger, Brendan Fitzgerald, Rick Fleming, Christine Ford, Andrew Friedrich, Tomo Fujiwara, Kevin Gaines, Kiran Gajmer, James Gates, Toby Gillie, Alex Glenfield, Joe Goehle, Vinny Golia, Jonathan Golove, Jacob Gotlib, Drew Gress, Peter Griesinger, Esin Gunduz, Russell Haight, Matt Hall, Mary Halvorson, Mark Harris, Matt Harris, Victor Haskins, Tarik Hassan, John Hasselback Jr., Michael Hawkins, Ethan Hayden, Phil Haynes, Tomas Heberer, Nathan Heidelberger, Honey Henry, Tony Hiler, Taylor Ho Bynum, Jim Hobbs, Joe Hochulski, Lindsey Holland, Liz Holland, Rick Holland, Matt Honor, Tsuyoshi Honjo, James Horbett, Adam Hopkins, Brennan Howell, Jason Jenkins, Chris Johansen, Randy Johnston, Bruce Johnstone, Emre Kartari, Mike Kaupa, Cameron Kayne, David Kayne, Griffith Kazmierczak, Bea Kelly, Walter Kemp III, Grant King, Elliott Kirby, Ed Klavoon, Jon Klekman, Charlie Kohlhase, Tom Kolor, JC Kuhl, Larry Kukers, Jack Kulp, Ken Kuriscak, Megan Kyle, Aaron Lack, Paul La Duca, Jon Lehning, Ben Levitt, Jerry Livingston, Ron LoCurto, Joanne Lorenzo, Bill Lowe, Dana Marcine, Andrew Mark, James "Pappy" Martin, Tony Martucci, Miki Matsuki, Maria Maxfield, Paul McArdle, Alexandra McArthur, Eoghan McCloskey, Carol McLaughlin, Austin McMahon, Mary McMahon, Mari McNeil, Michael Melinger, Zane Merritt, Matt Michaud, Richard Mikel, Bobby Militello, Bob Miller, Anne Mitchell, Janice Mitchell, Aaron Mitter, Francisco Molina, Mike Montalbano, Milan Moorman, Mike Moser, Rich Mossman, Chris Murtha, Stephanie Nakasian, Jon Nelson, Yuki Numata Resnick, Jeffrey Olson, Isabel Ong, Rin Ozaki, Aneal Padmanabha, Naryan Padmanabha, Ravi Padmanabha, Sam Pankey, Sean Pentland, Ryan Persaud, Randall Pharr, David Phillips, Greg Piontek, Jordan Ponzi, Joel Press, Shelly Purdy, Abdul-Rahman Qadir, Jason Rafalak, Nola Ranallo, Nelson Rivera, Kelly Roberge, Herb Robertson, Derek Rodrigues, Kelly Rossum, Laura Rowe, Bob Sabourin, Alec Safy, Michael Sapienza, Dave Savine, Dave Schiavone, Roger Schlee, Steve Schwelling, Miranda Scoma, Jason Scott, Elliot Scozzaro, Jonathan Serrano, Molly Shambo, Kelly Shepard, Damon Short, Kevin Simpson, Phil Sims, Laura Ann Singh, Michael Sinicropi, Beverly Smoker, Paul Smoker, Gabriel Solomon, Alec Spiegelman, Lana Stafford, Nelson Starr, Timothy Sullivan, Brian Sulser, David Taylor, Karen Tennison, Liz Terrell, Ben Thomas, Jared Tinkham, John Troy, Mike Troy, Michael Tumiel, Adam Unsworth, Zack Varner, Jake Wark, Darryl Washington, Andy Weinzler, John Werick, Katie Weissman, Billy Williams, Kim Williamson, Eddie Willis, Woody Witt, Marleen Wittnauer, Jim Yanda, Tony Zambito, Danny Ziemann, and probably a bunch of great ones I'm forgetting. Special thanks to the fine folks at Pausa Art House, Hallwalls, and The Bop Shop.