Neill M. Clegg Jr.
A native of North Carolina, Neill Clegg has performed throughout much of the U.S and Europe. After performing in Germany, France, Holland, and Luxemburg with bands in the U.S. Army, he studied at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, The University of North Texas, and the City University of New York, completing B.M. and M.M. degrees in performance at UNCG. He’s played in bands backing up singers from Vickie Carr, Bob Hope, and Nancy Wilson to Brenda Lee, Jim Nabors, and The Four Seasons, as well as Holiday On Ice, Disney On Ice, and the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. While living in New York, he performed at many of New York’s best-known venues, including The Village Gate, Mekeels, Storeyville, The Jazz Forum, Tavern On The Green, and Halloran House. As a clarinetist, he performed with Bel Canto Opera, and as a flutist with Brooklyn Opera. Reviewing his debut recital at New York’s Carnegie Recital Hall, the New York Times wrote that he “… possesses an impressive bag of dynamic and coloristic tricks and a next-to-the-skin intimacy.”
Neill has studied with some of the country’s leading musicians, including: Saxophone — John Giordano, Ray Beckinstein, Tim Bell, and Ray Gariglio; Clarinet — Ray Gariglio, Don Halloran, Ron Hockett (jazz clarinet); Flute — Donald Gibson, Melvin Flood, Ray Beckinstein; Oboe — Steven McClure; Bassoon — Lawrence Thee; Theory — Carl Schacter, Charles Burkhardt, Joel Lester, Sigmund Levarie, and Sherman Van Solkema; Musicology, Style Analysis, and Ethnomusicology — Barry Brooke, Alan Atlas, Edward Allen, George Stauffer, Howard Brofsky, and Henry Burroughs; and Composition and Arranging – Jack Jarrett and Kent Williams.
Recordings:
- Neill Clegg, sax & Dave Fox, piano
- Memories of You – Eubie Blake
- Oh Lady Be Good – George Gershwin
