BIOGRAPHY

Michael O’Neill, a San Diego native, began studying clarinet at an early age. One of his first influences was the great jazz and studio drummer, saxophonist, and clarinetist, John Guerin, who lived several houses away. After a couple of years of clarinet study, Michael began lessons with Edward Fisher, the principal clarinetist with the San Diego Symphony. After the usual involvement with school bands and orchestras, Michael did a stint in the Air Force Band. Upon being discharged from the service, he entered college as a biology major with a music minor. There he studied composition and arranging as well as jazz performance while playing in clubs at night and on the weekends to pay for living expenses.

After graduating from college, Michael began a career in biology which lasted a couple of years before he entered graduate school to pursue a Ph.D. in Insect Physiology at Texas A&M University. Once again Michael began playing music professionally for financial and recreational reasons in his off hours. After two years of graduate school, he decided to give up biology and to pursue a full time career in music (as with Duke Ellington, music was Michael’s jealous mistress). Upon returning to the Bay Area, he began studying with the great Joe Henderson while playing in dance bands, salsa bands and doing occasional jazz gigs.

About this time, Michael became more involved with composition and formed groups to perform his original material. This started a trend that is ongoing today with his current quintet which features vocalist extrordinare, Kenny Washington. Besides jazz composition, Michael’s interests took him into orchestral and ethnic musical forms as well. He began to write music for corporate and industrial films which led to documentary and television film scoring which now includes a long list of credits.

Michael has been active in the last several years, leading various types of jazz groups in the Bay Area. These include a three year engagement with his trio at the Ritz Carlton Hotel and his current (now in it’s forth year) engagement with his quartet at Cetrella in Half Moon Bay. Besides his small group performances, Michael has performed with several of the Bay Area’s leading big bands including a two year stint with the Contemporary Jazz Orchestra (the Monday night band at Jazz At Pearl’s). He has played at all the leading jazz venues in the Bay Area including Yoshi’s, Jazz at Pearl’s, the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society and Bruno’s, both as a leader of his own groups and as a sideman with others.

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