Ben Neill
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Ben Neill

New York City, New York, United States | INDIE | AFM

New York City, New York, United States | INDIE | AFM
Band EDM Jazz

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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

Music

Press


"Ben Neill press quotes"

Ben Neill is a creative composer, genius performer and inventor of the mutantrumpet. Time Out NY 2008

Ben Neill is a musical powerhouse, a serious and individual talent. Time Out London

Ben Neill is using a schizophrenic trumpet to create art music for the people.
Wired Magazine

Neill’s astonishing mutantrumpet blends brass and computer with wit, beauty and solid musicianship.
Village Voice

9 out of 10 rating…Ben Neill is a mad scientist, and he has discovered the formula that breaks musical barriers.
Mixmag

Ben Neill plays an instrument he designed called the mutantrumpet, a three-belled trumpet that allows him to shift sonorities instantaneously, from muted to open, clear to froggy.
New York Times

Neill works with harmonies based on numerical relationships that produce spiritually powerful resonances. The result is trippy, otherworldly and seamlessly groovy.
Interview Magazine

Ben Neill is the mad scientist of dancefloor jazz…an inventive and stimulating voyage.
CMJ Monthly

Calling Ben Neill a trumpeter is like calling Mr. Spock a frequent flyer…as vibrant as the galaxies beyond, both adventurous and artful.
Boston Phoenix
- various


Discography

Ben Neill, Night Science, Thirsty Ear, Fall 2009 release
Ben Neill, Automotive, Six Degrees Records, 657036 1077-2MJ
Ben Neill, Goldbug, Verve Antilles CD 314 557 085-2
Ben Neill, Triptycal, Verve Antilles CD 314 533 184-2
Ben Neill, Green Machine, Astralwerks CD ASW 6159
Ben Neill and Bill Jones, Color Bar Remix, Eyewash DVD Volume 2, Forward Motion Theater
Ben Neill, Perfume, remix of Latin-Grammy winning artist Bajofondo, Universal Latin Records
Ben Neill with Andrew Montgomery, Shock the Monkey Leaves from the Tree,Vitamin Records CD-8597
Ben Neill, Turbonium X, Street Mix vol.1 compilation CD, Volkswagen/Rock River /Universal Music
Ben Neill & Fred Jorio, Comatose remixes of song by Lisa Hall, Reprise Records 9 44544-2
Ben Neill & David Wojnarowicz, ITSOFOMO excerpt, Optic Nerve CD-ROM, Red Hot Organization
Ben Neill, After the Gold Rush, (Neil Young), Wired Magazine Presents: Music Futurists,
Rhino CD R2 75607
Ben Neill, Tunnel Vision, 12” single, Antilles remixes by Spring Heel Jack, DJ Krust, X-Ecutioners
Ben Neill, Pentagram/Flotation Device, 12" single, Antilles remixes by DJ Spooky, DJ Soulslinger
Ben Neill, Flotation Device OK Jungle mix by DJ Soulslinger, Liquid Sky Music CD JS116
Ben Neill, Sistrum, 12" single, remixes by DJ Spooky, Single Cell Orchestra, Astralwerks 6159
Ben Neill, Somnabula, Excursions in Ambience compilation CD/LP/cass, Astralwerks 6153
Ben Neill, Ether, Ambient No. 1 Fantasy compilation, Sub Terranean SPV 089-38782
Ben Neill, Sistrum, Nicotine Beat Mix, Werks Like a 12" compilation, Astralwerks 6179-2
Ben Neill, Torchtower, New Tone CD 6723
Ben Neill & David Wojnarowicz, ITSOFOMO, New Tone CD 6710
Ben Neill, Mainspring, Ear-Rational LP/CD 1002
Ben Neill, 678 Streams, Century 21 compilation, New Tone CD 6730
Ben Neill, Bal, Utopia Americana compilation, New Tone CD 6707
Ben Neill, Money Talk, Virtuosity with Purpose compilation, Ear-Rational CD 1034
Ben Neill & David Wojnarowicz, ITSOFOMO excerpt, Tellus CD#25
Ben Neill, Music for 'The King of Thule'' Tellus CD #27 "Mini-Mall"

Photos

Bio

BEN NEILL is a composer, performer, producer, and inventor of the mutantrumpet, a hybrid electro-acoustic instrument. His music blends electronica, jazz and ambient, blurring the lines between DJ culture and acoustic instrument performance. His new CD Night Science, is released on Thirsty Ear in September.

Neill has recorded seven CDs of his music on the Universal/Verve, Astralwerks, Six Degrees, New Tone and Ear-Rational labels. He has performed his music extensively in a wide variety of international settings including the Cite de la Musique France, Berlin Love Parade Germany, Spoleto Festival Italy, Umbria Jazz Italy, NIME Festival 2006 Paris, Bang On A Can Festival New York, ICA London, Istanbul Jazz Festival Turkey and the Edinburgh Festival UK to name a few. The Sci-Fi Lounge, his collaboration with DJ Spooky and Emergency Broadcast Network, toured America and Europe in 1997.

Neill “made music industry history” in 2002 (MSNBC News) by releasing Automotive, an album comprised of extended versions of music he originally wrote for Volkswagen TV and Internet commercials. The album was released by Six Degrees records and was a unique hybrid between music, record label and brand. He supported the release of the album by performing on an 18 city tour of the House of Blues and other major music venues in the US and Canada. Television appearances included CNBC Power Lunch, Tech TV Screen Savers, Wall Street Journal Report, and Media Television Canada. Neill and Jones’ video remixes were presented at Sundance 2004 and have been aired on Fox TV network.

In Neill’s live performance, laptop computers merge his three-belled, computer interfaced mutantrumpet with live digital audio and video. In addition to controlling the electronic sounds in real time, Neill literally plays the moving pictures, making the images an extension of his instrument.

A native of North Carolina, Neill holds a Doctorate Manhattan School of Music. He studied composition with minimalist composer La Monte Young, and has worked with numerous other composers and musicians including, David Behrman, John Cale, Nicolas Collins, Eric Singer’s LEMUR, Page Hamilton, Mimi Goese, DJ Olive and DJ Spooky. Neill was the Music Curator of The Kitchen in New York City from 1992-1998. He curated the electronic series Site and Sound at the River to River Festival 2008 at World Financial Center, NYC. His music has also been used for numerous film, theater and television productions including Guest of Cindy Sherman, a Sundance production premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2008.