Johnny O'Neal (born October 10, 1956 in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

) is an American

neo-bop jazz Neo-bop (also called neotraditionalist) refers to a style of jazz that gained popularity in the 1980s among musicians who found greater aesthetic affinity for acoustically based, swinging, melodic forms of jazz than for free jazz and jazz fusion ...

pianist and vocalist. His playing ranges from the technically virtuosic to the tenderest of ballad interpretations. Though unique in style, he is influenced by many jazz elders, including

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. As a virtuoso who is considered to be one of the greatest Jazz piano, jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordin ...

and

Art Tatum Arthur Tatum Jr. (, October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist who is widely regarded as one of the greatest ever. From early in his career, fellow musicians acclaimed Tatum's technical ability as extraordinary. Tatum a ...

. He has led many recording dates with musicians such as

Russell Malone Russell Lamar Malone (November 8, 1963 – August 23, 2024) was an American jazz guitarist. He began working with Jimmy Smith in 1988 and went on to work with Harry Connick Jr. and Diana Krall throughout the 1990s. Biography Malone was born in ...

and many others. He was a 1997 inductee of the

Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame The Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame (AJHF) is an organization and museum in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It was founded in 1978, and opened as museum on September 18, 1993, with a mission "to foster, encourage, educate, and cultivate a general ...

Life and career

In 1974, O'Neal moved to

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, where he worked as a full-time musician. In Birmingham he worked with local jazz musicians, such as Jerry Grundhofer, Dave Amaral, Cleveland Eaton, and

Ray Reach Raymond Everett Reach, Jr. (born August 3, 1948) is an Americans, American pianist, vocalist, guitarist, composer, arranger, music producer, and educator, who was convicted in the State of Alabama on child pornography charges. Reach has performe ...

. He moved to New York City to perform with

Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American Swing music, swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948� ...

in 1981, and also landed a regular job at the Blue Note, accompanying such musicians as

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

, Ray Brown, Nancy Wilson,

Joe Pass Joe Pass (born Joseph Anthony Jacobi Passalacqua; January 13, 1929 – May 23, 1994) was an American jazz guitarist. Although Pass recorded and performed live with pianist Oscar Peterson, composer Duke Ellington, and vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, he ...

and

Kenny Burrell Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige Records, Prestige, Blue Note, Verve Records, Verve, CTI Records, CTI, Muse Records, Muse, and Concord Records, Conco ...

. He was a member of

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...

and the Jazz Messengers for two years from 1982 to 1983 and made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1985. On the recommendation of Oscar Peterson, O'Neal portrayed Art Tatum in the 2004 movie '' Ray'', recreating Tatum's sound on the song "Yesterdays". A 2006 DVD ''Tight'', captured O'Neal at the height of his powers. Included is an interview with pianist

Mulgrew Miller Mulgrew Miller (August 13, 1955 – May 29, 2013) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and educator. As a child he played in churches and was influenced on piano by Ramsey Lewis and then Oscar Peterson. Aspects of their styles remained in his ...

, who stated,

In my generation of musicians there are two who are probably the most naturally talented. They both happen to be from
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
. One is
Kenny Garrett Kenny Garrett (born October 9, 1960) is an American post-bop jazz musician and composer who gained recognition in his youth as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and for his time with Miles Davis's band. Garrett's primary instruments are ...
, the well-known saxophonist. The other is pianist Johnny O'Neal.

Playing style

"There are so many outstanding things about Johnny's playing. Two or three of the most outstanding: number one, the touch. Johnny has a million dollar touch. Very few people touch the piano like that to get that kind of sound and feeling ... The other thing is his feeling of swing, which is so natural." On June 10 and 11, 2016 O'Neal was featured in "Lush Life: Celebrating Billy Strayhorn," performing with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. He received a standing ovation.

Discography

*1983: ''Coming Out'' (Concord Jazz) *1985: ''Soulful Swinging'' (Parkwood) *1985: ''Live at Baker's Keyboard Lounge'' (Parkwood) *1995: ''On the Montreal Scene'' ( Justin Time) *2002: ''In Good Hands'' (Jazzabel) *2013: ''Live at Smalls'' *2017: ''In The Moment'' With

*1982: '' Oh-By the Way'' (Timeless)

External links

* Johnny O'Neal profile at AllMusic
Official website of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame

All About Jazz review March 3, 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneal, Johnny Living people 1956 births Jazz musicians from Detroit Musicians from Birmingham, Alabama American jazz pianists American male jazz pianists 20th-century American pianists Jazz musicians from Alabama 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians Justin Time Records artists W. C. Handy Jazz All-Stars members The Jazz Messengers members