CURRENT FULL ENSEMBLE (when I'm lucky enough to have them all!)
Jim O'Neill, vocals/piano/rhodes/acoustic guitar/electric guitar
Mark O'Day, drums
Aaron McCabe, trumpet
Michael Sutton, violin
Justin Hartke, bass
Jim has had the privilege of collaborating/performing with these extraordinary people:
ARTISTS
Patrick Pryor, painter
BASSISTS
Dave Madson, acoustic bass/electric bass
John Iden, bass
John Wright, bass
Ben Foote, bass
Matt Senjem, bass
Griffin Woodworth, bass and cello
DRUMMERS
Dave Koel, drums
Phil Hey, drums
Greg Schutte, drums
Ryan Johnson, drums
Troy Groenke, drums
Adam Eggert, drums
Spencer McGinnis, drums
George Bergh, drums
Tom Madson, drums
Steven Dwyer, drums
SINGER/SONGWRITER/GUITARISTS
Kevin Steinman, guitar and vocals
Brad Senne, guitar and vocals
Chris Koza, guitar and vocals
PIANISTS
Alicia Wiley, piano, wurlitzer, vocals
TRUMPETERS
Aaron McCabe, trumpet and flugelhorn
SINGERS
Brooke Murphy, vocals
Molly Sonsteng, vocals
Sara Richardson, vocals
Bobbi Miller, vocals
Alex Alcorn, vocals
VIOLINISTS
Michael Sutton, violin
Lisi Wright, fiddle
DANCERS
James Sewell Ballet Company
James Sewell, co-founder/artistic director/choreographer/dancer
Sally Rousse, co-founder/dancer
Caroline Fermin, dancer
Penelope Freeh, artistic associate/dancer
Chris Hannon, dancer
Justin Leaf, dancer
Nicolas Lincoln, dancer
Emily Tyra, dancer/singer
Stephanie Wolf, dancer
Cory Goei, dancer
Vanessa Voskuil, dancer/choreographer
Influences
Jimmy Hamilton, Bobby Peterson, Harry Connick, Jr., Frank Sinatra, Sting, Ahmad Jamal, Erroll Garner, Oscar Peterson, Joshua Redman, Eric Reed, Esbjorn Svensson Trio, Brad Mehldau, Branford Marsalis, Ray Charles, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Mel Jacobson, Kevin Steinman, Abdullah Ibrahim, Burt Bacharach.
Sounds Like
A music listening chef might liken him to an entre of half Harry Connick, Jr., half Gordon Matthew "Sting" Sumner, seasoned with Ben Folds, a dash of Ray Charles, coupled with an ice cold glass of George Harrison to wash it all down. Maybe for dessert, add a scoop of Harry Nilsson, smothered in a chocolatey syrup of Keith Jarrett. Don't forget to add a hot coffee mug of Burt Bachurach to enjoy for the post meal socializing.
JTO' is still learning, still growing, still evolving, still struggling with writing in the 3rd Person. A potter might say that he is still as maleable as a lump of unfired/unthrown Cone 10 stonewear clay; one that needs perhaps a hint of wedging.
Jim O'Neill is based in Minneapolis, MN. He recently finished his first self-produced album of originals, "Violet". He's an eclectic singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose music is similar in style to a combination of artists like Harry Connick, Jr., Ben Folds and Sting. He's taken on many different music projects in the past to broaden his experience; leading his own pop ensemble; backing rising Indy Folk artists Brad Senne and Kevin Steinman; performing in stage productions of award winning choreographers James Sewell, Sally Rousse and Vanessa Voskuil; performing piano & dance improvisations with ballerina Emily Tyra and Caroline Fermin (James Sewell Ballet); co-producing theater productions "Intoxicating" (Bryant Lake Theater) with Bobbi Miller; leading the house band of "Sin Cities 7" (Bryant Lake Theater & Minneapolis Garage Theater); improvisational performance art/music collaborations with noted abstract painter Patrick Pryor; sitting in with the local rock band "Beight". He's continually striving to learn, reach, stretch, and expand his abilities while collaborating with like-minded artists.
CD Release Party Oct17 8pm 318 Cafe
Music Sketch No.10 with Patrick Pryor
Copy and paste the code below to put my banner on your Myspace:
Happy election day - Norway's rocking for Obama. We're grilling USA burgers and pommes frittes, and whippin up some malt shakes for the good old US of A tonight as we watch the results roll in through the sleeping hours. Let's win!
Looking forward to playing with you at 318 on the 13th!
I cannot thank you enough for your generosity on Saturday...you were GREAT, I got so many compliments on your music...Mason sends his love and thanks for helping out his brothers and sisters!! :-)
Hey Jim! Thanks a lot for your feedback - always appreciated :) Hope the US of A is treating you well and look forward to hearing some of your own tunes :) xx
