Biography
Phone: 617.905.9660
Email: brian@crashandboom.com
"…a percussion master and musical polymath…"
“…If John Zorn is an exotica Picasso, O'Neill is his Georges—Braque counterpart in cubism's transposition to music…and may be…a stronger exoticist than Zorn.…” —Gordon Marshall, AllAboutJazz
“…[The Orchestrotica is] a marvelously flexible unit…”—Jonathan Perry, The Boston Globe
“…incredible arrangements, musicianship and artistic direction…the only thing better than hearing the record would be seeing this group live.…”—Frank Alkyer, DOWNBEAT
Brian O’Neill is a versatile award-winning multi-percussionist, drummer and composer based in Boston who has performed at The Montreal Jazz Festival, The Kennedy Center, and Carnegie Hall among others. A “percussion master and musical polymath” (Boston Phoenix), Brian performs regularly in the worlds of jazz, classical, world music, and theatre. He is perhaps best known for leading the acclaimed triple ensemble Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica, which performs original global jazz and chamber music, intergalactic balkan surf jazz, and the lost space-age pop music of Juan Garcia Esquivel (“deliciously entertaining”—Wall Street Journal). The Orchestrotica has toured internationally in Germany, Mexico, and Canada, and has won grants from NEFA and the South Arts Jazz Road Tours program.
In the orchestral world, Brian is an active freelancer who has performed with Portland Symphony, Albany Symphony, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and Arizona Opera among others. As a jazz sideman, Brian has performed or recorded with artists like Peter Erskine, Miguel Zenón, and Mehmet Sanlikol while in the commercial world, he's backed up The Who, Donna Summer, and Kristin Chenoweth. Brian is also a frequent Boston musical theatre drummer and percussionist and has appeared in the Boston production of the national Broadway tours of Ain't Too Proud, Motown the Musical and Anastasia. He is also a member of the klezmer-balkan group, Klezwoods and plays bodhran in the modern celtic band, Ishna. Follow Brian at crashandboom.com or on Instagram (@orchestrotica).