Charles McNeill

Associate Professor and Chair of Jazz Studies

BBA and MM, University of Miami.

Chip McNeill is a jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, arranger, and educator. In addition to his responsibilities as associate professor and chair of jazz, Professor McNeill is the musical director and jazz tenor saxophonist for Grammy award-winning recording artist Arturo Sandoval. Professor McNeill has recorded with Sandoval on his CDs Americanaand Hot House.  Hot House won a Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Performance. Professor McNeill has also worked closely with legendary jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson. He produced, wrote, and performed on five recent CDs with Ferguson and has toured with Ferguson, Sandoval, and many other notable jazz performers. Professor McNeill has performed at countless jazz festivals and clubs around the world, including the Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Monterey Jazz Festival (U.S.A.), and Noto Jazz Festival (Japan), as well as performing at Carnegie Hall, Town Hall (Sydney, Australia), London Palladium, and on numerous jazz radio and television productions in Europe, Japan, the U.K., India, and Indonesia. In addition to recording with Sandoval and Ferguson, Professor McNeill has recorded with such musicians as Nat Adderley, David Liebman, Duffy Jackson, Ira Sullivan, The Woody Herman Orchestra, Ted Shumate, and Larry Willis, and has performed with such entertainers as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joe Williams, Dizzy Gillespie, Billy Eckstine, and Wynton Marsalis. Prior to coming to the University of Illinois, McNeill held similar academic positions at Florida International University and at Virginia Tech University.

Being a product of some of the finest university level music programs in this country, I have always had a first-hand understanding of the needs of the maturing music student and how important the roles of teachers and mentors are in that maturation process. One of my highest priorities is spending one-on-one time with each student. Being able to understand and adapt to the changing needs of my students in order to provide the most up-to-date and highest quality training has been one of the most important elements of my teaching philosophy. I see my role as teacher and mentor to be one of both lending my experience but also helping students develop skills that keep their minds open to changing techniques, technologies, and societies, and develop their individual skills to create a place for themselves in the music world of the 21st century. Being flexible with each student’s needs in music helps to keep them in music and contribute in some incredible ways, which at the outset of teaching them is not always apparent.  I believe students need to know that, as a teacher and mentor, I am always available to guide them.