Neil Slater

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Neil Slater (born Kenneth Neil Slater on July 31, 1931) is an American pianist, composer, and educator. He is known for leading the One O’Clock Lab Band at the University of North Texas and for writing more than 80 works for jazz ensembles, plus music for symphony, chamber groups, choir, opera, and musical theatre. He retired in 2008 as professor emeritus.

Early life and education
Slater was born in Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. He started learning piano at age six. He earned a degree from Mansfield University in 1952 and a Master’s in music composition from Duquesne University in 1954. He also took night classes at Teachers College, Columbia University, starting in 1960 to study pedagogy, piano, and composition.

Military service and early career
From 1954 to 1956, Slater served in the U.S. Army, working with the 97th Army Band at Fort Sill and playing piano, French horn, and valve trombone. He helped back guest stars in shows and directed a weekly television program from Fort Sill. After leaving the Army, he taught at the Mount Vernon City Schools (1956–about 1960), where he introduced many elementary students to instruments. He also taught and coached young musicians, with Alvin Queen later becoming a drummer who studied with him.

In 1965 he co-founded the Westchester Stage Band Clinics and in 1968 became Director of Bands at Mamaroneck High School. He joined the University of Bridgeport’s music faculty in 1970, created the university’s jazz program in 1971, and directed the UB Jazz Ensemble for 11 years. The group performed with notable artists such as Bill Watrous, Gerry Mulligan, and Chet Baker.

University of North Texas and the One O’Clock Lab Band
From 1981 to 2008 Slater was Chair of Jazz Studies and the director of the One O’Clock Lab Band at the University of North Texas College of Music. He was the first to head UNT’s jazz program, helping to shape it around smaller jazz combos. He also started the College of Music Jazz Lecture Series in 1982, launched the Master of Music with a Major in Jazz Studies in 1983, and in 1994 established an artist-in-residence series. He integrated jazz studies classes with the lab band experience.

Under Slater’s leadership, the One O’Clock Lab Band produced 29 studio albums, six live albums, and a commemorative release for 50 years of UNT jazz. The band toured worldwide to major festivals and even performed at a White House state dinner for the king and queen of Thailand in 1967, with Duke Ellington joining them for part of the performance. The band also hosted and performed with many famous jazz guests.

Other work and recognition
In New York City, Slater worked as a composer, arranger, pianist, and educator, and he was active in big bands, jazz combos, studio work, and jingle writing across jazz, R&B, pop, and other genres. In the 1970s he conducted choral arrangements for artists like John Denver and Natalie Cole and did consulting work for MCA and Warner Bros., including choral arrangements of Moody Blues songs. He was nominated for Grammy Awards for Best Arrangement on an Instrumental for his arranging of “Values” on the Lab 91 album, and he received two Grammy nominations as part of Lab albums: in 1989 for Got a Match? (Lab ’89) and in 2009 for Another Other and Time Sensitive (Lab 2009), which was itself nominated for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. U.S. News & World Report ranked UNT’s jazz studies program among the best in the country during the 1990s.

Legacy
Neil Slater has built a lasting reputation as a teacher, composer, and performer, with a career spanning education, ensemble leadership, and professional arrangements. He remains celebrated for expanding jazz studies and for guiding the One O’Clock Lab Band to international renown.