Profile

Neil Stalnaker was born in Elkins, West Virginia and started playing trumpet at age 12. Those early years were mostly spent playing football, basketball and running track. However, Neil played in all of the usual ensembles at school including, marching band, concert band and the big band. In addition, he was also a member of the All State Band.

Neil attended West Virginia University and Berklee College of Music, where he studied trumpet with Greg Hopkins and Wes Hensel. He also studied with Roger Sherman (Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra), Bob McCoy (NYC studio musician) and Joe Wilder (Count Basie Band).

In 1982, Neil moved to Washington, D.C. and took a position in the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Band. After spending a few months doing White House/Presidential events, he joined the Navy Commodores. He served as jazz trumpet soloist for 4.5 years with the Commodores. During that time he performed with the Commodores on national tours in Dallas, New Orleans, Chicago, Los Angeles, Nashville, Baltimore, Houston, New York and many many other cities. Guests with the band included, Ray Charles, Eddie Daniels, Pete Christlieb, Vanessa Williams, Nick Brignola,  Bob Mintzer, Butch Miles, Herb Ellis, Joe Pass and many others. The Commodores performed at the International Association of Jazz Educators Convention (IAJE) in Los Angeles, Mid-West Band Clinic in Chicago, Witchita Jazz Festival, Ohio State Jazz Festival and a host of other national and international events. In Washington, D.C., he performed with the Commodores regularly at the Smithsonian Institutions' American History Museum, Museum of Natural History and the Air and Space Museum as a part of the Institute's weekly concert series.

Neil performed regularly around Washington, D.C. in a variety of musical settings which included studio recordings, big bands, hotels, latin/salsa bands, classical recitals for trumpet and piano, concerts with groups such as the Temptations, the Four Tops, Dianne Carroll, Pat Boone and others. Some of the performances were at the prestigious Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. During this period, Neil continued to study classical trumpet with David Flowers from the National Symphony Orchestra at Catholic University, 18th century counterpoint at George Washington University, improvisation with New York pianist Marc Copeland and trumpet with master brass teacher Carmine Caruso in New York.

Neil moved back to his home state of West Virginia in the early 1990's. Soon after he was faced with throat cancer. After several operations, radiation treatments and a year away from the trumpet, Neil began the long-term project to recapature his ability to play the trumpet. During this time, he was working as a consultant for Davis & Elkins College. For the next 3-4 years, he created music festivals, performed at and coordinated hundreds of day-time school concerts and clinics in West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia. Neil also took his own trio, quartet and quintet on a concert tour to Switzerland and Italy that included performances at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Verbier Music Festival and the Lake Maggiore Jazz Festival. In early 1996, he did a concert tour of Russia with performances in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Ufa, Novosibirsk, Novokuznesk and other cities.

From 1996 until 1998, while continuing to recover from the long-term effects of cancer and radiation treatments Neil continued to perform while living for a time in New York City. He was also on a Carnival Cruise ship for a brief time with stops in Miami, Cazumel, Grand Caymen and Jamaica. While living in New York, Neil started performing with New School Jazz Program founder and saxophonist Arnie Lawrence and Japanese drummer Fukushi Tainaka around NYC among others.

In 1998, Neil made the move to Tokyo. While living in Tokyo he has been recording, touring, performing with his own bands, teaching trumpet and ensembles at Senzoku College of Music and many other activities.

Neil has performed in all of the major cities in Japan at jazz clubs, concert halls, jazz festivals, high schools and universities.

In 2010, three of Neil's live performances were recorded with his own quintet, the Tokyo Big Band and Yume-Goto and currently featured on NTT's Hikari/Plala Internet T.V. Jazz Channel.

Recent recording sessions have included CD recordings for Takeshi Ito (King Records), Yuki Koyanagi (Warner Japan), Matsuyama Chiharu (Columbia Records), Makoto Kuriya (King Records), "Tiger" Onitsuka (Sony Records) and others. In addition, Neil has recorded video game soundtracks for composer/producer Norihiko Hibino. Recent releases include Ninja Blade (Microsoft) and Rogue Galaxy (Konami). Neil can also be seen in movies such as "Last Love" (starring Misaki Ito and Masakazi Tamura), Rip Slyme's new music video release, "Scar" and the TV series Fumouchitai (starring Koyuki).

Neil has been interviewed in JAZZNIN Magazine, American Way Magazine (American Airlines magazine in a feature about the Tokyo "jazz scene") and Japan Up (Los Angeles magazine introducing Japan).

While living in Japan, Neil has performed in clubs, jazz festivals and concerts with a number of great musicans including Norio Maeda, Terumasa Hino, Bill Watrous, Eric Marienthal, Seiichi Nakamura, Tommy Campbell, Yousuke Yamashita, Tom Pierson, Ken Ota, Tokyo Big Band, Morgan Fisher, Tom Pierson Big Band and many others. 

From 2004 to 2007, Neil performed weekly in a duo with pianist/composer Tom Pierson at the Park Hyatt Hotel's New York Bar.

In addition to Neil's performance schedule, he has been active as an educator. Neil is currently on the faculty at Senzoku College of Music, teaching trumpet and directing ensembles, as well as maintaining a private trumpet studio and teaching improvisation workshops throughout Japan.