Neil Slater

Slater was born in July 1931 in Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. Beginning at age six, he learned piano from a friend of his parents. In 1952 he graduated from Mansfield University of Pennsylvania. Two years later he received a master's degree in composition from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. Beginning in 1960, he took night classes for about two years at Teachers College, Columbia University, studying pedagogy, piano, and composition.

From 1954 to 1956, Slater served in the U.S. Army, spending most of his time with the 97^th Army Band at Fort Sill[6] as a pianist but also playing French horn and valve trombone.[5] He backed guest stars in shows produced by Daniel Melnick of the Music and Entertainment Section of Special Services. One such show featured vocalist Peggy King, who entertained the troops at Fort Sill in 1956.[lower-roman 2][lower-roman 3] Slater also directed a weekly television show from Fort Sill. Gary McFarland was among the musicians.[7]

Neil Slater (1980)

Slater's first teaching job, from 1956 to about 1960, was with the Mount Vernon City Schools, where he traveled to a different school each day of the week, covering five schools, to introduce elementary school students to their first instruments. Jazz drummer Alvin Queen, when he was in elementary school, started studying drums with Slater, who, at the time, taught all the band instruments.[lower-roman 4][lower-roman 5] In 1965 he co-founded the Westchester Stage Band Clinics.[lower-roman 6]

In 1968, he became Director of Bands at Mamaroneck High School.[lower-roman 7] Two years later he joined the music faculty at the University of Bridgeport. In 1970, he was appointed Slater as Assistant Professor of Music with the Jazz and Composition Faculty, Department of Music, College of Education.[lower-roman 8] Bridgeport's expansion in jazz was influenced in part by a new emphasis placed on jazz curriculum at the National Association for Music Education conference[lower-roman 8] that was held March 1970 in Chicago. Slater founded the jazz program in 1971 at the University of Bridgeport. For 11 years, Slater directed the University of Bridgeport Jazz Ensemble. He also served as coordinator of UB's Jazz Studio Program. He hired Bill Finegan to teach composing and arranging and Finnegan's wife Rosemary to teach singing. Slater also hired Sal Salvador, Art Davis, Randy Jones. The UB Jazz Ensemble performed with Bill Watrous, Gerry Mulligan, and Chet Baker.

Slater became Director of Jazz Studies, and in 1976 the school established a bachelor's degree in jazz studies.[lower-roman 9] By 1981, his compositions had been performed by Stan Kenton, Slide Hampton, Clark Terry, Sal Salvador, Joe Morello, and Bobby Shew. The press credited Slater as having performed with Frank Strozier, Louis Hayes, Don Elliott, Jimmy Heath, Frank Foster, Danny Stiles, Art Davis, Bill Watrous, Joe Morello, and Sal Salvador. Slater had been under contract with MCA and Warner Bros. as a composer, arranger and consultant.

He frequently performed as a featured guest piano soloist with other college jazz ensembles. In one instance, Slater was a guest pianist at the Memphis State University Jazz Week '77.[lower-roman 10]

Slater in Denton, Texas (1982)

From 1981 to 2008, Slater was Chair of Jazz Studies and director of the One O'Clock Lab Band at the University of North Texas College of Music.[lower-roman 11] In 1946, North Texas became the first college to offer a degree in jazz studies.[8][9] Slater was the first to head the program whose role as a composer and arranger represented a significant part of his career. Slater is credited for having emphasized small jazz combos. In 1982, he established the College of Music Jazz Lecture Series. In 1983, he started the Master of Music with a Major in Jazz Studies.[10][11] In 1994, with funding from the school's college of business, he established the artist-in-residence series. He also integrated jazz studies classes with the lab band experience.[2][12] Under Slater's direction, the One O'Clock band made 29 studio albums, six live recordings, and one compilation commemorating 50 years of jazz at North Texas. Slater directed the band on tours throughout the world to Pori Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, Antibes Jazz Festival, and the Molde Jazz Festival.

King of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej, which lasted four hours, and sat in with the band. The band's performance marked a 37-year reunion. In 1967, the One O'Clock band performed at a White House State Dinner hosted by President Lyndon Johnson for the king and queen of Thailand.[lower-roman 12] During the performance, Duke Ellington sat-in with the band, playing "Take the A Train".[lower-roman 13][13]

While in New York City, he maintained an active role as a composer, arranger, pianist, and educator. He was active in big bands, jazz combos, andstudio work ranging for jazz, R&B, pop, and jingles. In the 1970s, Slater arranged choral works by John Denver and Natalie Cole. He was hired by MCA to consult, compose, and arrange. His work included choral arrangements of Moody Blues hits. In 1972, Warner Bros. contracted Slater as a consultant to compose and arrange.[14] His choral arrangements include "Theme from Summer of '42" and "Everybody Gets to Go to the Moon".