Herb Pomeroy

Infobox musical artist
Name = Herb Pomeroy
Img_capt = Cover art for "Herb Pomeroy and Donna Byrne: Walking on Air" (Arbors Records)
Img_size = 150
Landscape =
Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name Irving Herbert Pomeroy
Alias =
Born = April 15 1930
Died = August 11 2007
Origin = Gloucester, Massachusetts
Instrument = trumpet, flugelhorn
Voice_type =
Genre = Jazz
Occupation =
Years_active =
Label =
Associated_acts = Charlie Parker
URL =
Current_members =
Past_members =
Notable_instruments =

Irving Herbert "Herb" Pomeroy, III (b. 15 April 1930, Gloucester, Massachusetts – d. 11 August 2007) was an influential swing and bebop jazz trumpeter and educator. He played with legends such as Charlie Parker and Lionel Hampton as well as his own jazz bands for over half a century.

= Biography =

Early life

Herb Pomeroy began playing trumpet at an early age, and in his early teens started gigging in the greater Boston area, claiming inspiration from the music of Louis Armstrong. In 1946, at age 16, he became a member of the Musicians Union in Gloucester after the union didn't have enough members to conduct a meeting. After High School, he studied music at the Schillinger House in Boston, which is now the Berklee College of Music, where he excelled as a jazz trumpeter and began to find his calling in bebop.

Herb the Performer

Herb Pomeroy studied dentistry at Harvard University for one year but dropped out to pursue his jazz career. Charlie Parker liked Pomeroy's playing and hired him frequently when the alto saxophonist performed at Boston's Hi-Hat and Storyville. Herb Pomeroy also played with Lionel Hampton, Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton, and Serge Chaloff, among other jazz giants. After experience as a sideman in the big bands of Hampton and Stan Kenton (separated by a five-month stint at leading his own 13-piece band in the early 1950s), Herb Pomeroy put together a big band that drew national attention in the late 1950s in a Boston club called the Stable. He led the band from 1957 through the mid-1960s and intemittently until 1993. During that time and since then he led popular small groups ranging typically from duo (usually with bassist John Repucci) to quintet. His big band played in Carnegie Hall and established series such as the Newport Jazz Festival on the same bill with Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, and other major jazz figures. Pomeroy also backed up several singers, including Mel Torme, Tony Bennett, Irene Kral, Ella Fitzgerald, and Frank Sinatra. He became noted as a true master of music theory and musical form. Pomeroy's playing exhibited a limited upper range on the trumpet, but his extraordinary improvisational resources counteracted that limitation. Gradually during the mid-1990s, as Pomeroy performed more frequently with small groups, he abandoned the flugelhorn for the trumpet.

Although Herb Pomeroy is best known to some people as a music educator, his first love was jazz performance on the trumpet. He ranked leading a band and teaching music second and third respectively in his hierarchy of passions. He was not much of a fan of recordings, always emphasizing that jazz is a music that must be witnessed in person. A good example of such an incident can be found in the Berklee video archives. The video documents an October 31, 2005 Friend Hall panel session on jazz in Boston at mid-century. At one point the panel was asked what the best recordings of jazz in Boston in the 1950s are. Several people offered suggestions. Finally in apparent frustration Herb told everyone to take all of the recommended recordings (most which featured Pomeroy) “and throw them away.” Instead, he suggested that all people in attendance go out to clubs and “see live jazz.”

As Teacher

In addition to a successful performing career, Herb Pomeroy also enjoyed a highly successful teaching career. He helped found the Jazz Workshop on Stuart Street--under the leadership of Charlie Mariano - which included such musician/teachers as Varty Haroutunian, Ray Santisi, Serge Chaloff, Dick Twardzik and Pomeroy on the faculty. Later Pomeroy joined the faculty of the Berklee School of Music in Boston where he taught for 41 years. In 1963 Pomeroy was enlisted to revitalize a venerable but moribund big band, The Techtonians, at MIT. It was renamed the Festival Jazz Ensemble, and he continued as its director for 22 years. During his time as director he helped the FJE perform throughout the US as well as abroad, even helping them become the first college ensemble to appear at Switzerland’s prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival. His contribution to Music at MIT is well known and on May 10th the university had a memorial concert for him in the Kresge Auditorium] . [ MIT Tech article: Herb Pomeroy, founder of MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble, dies. August 14th 2007. http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/obit-pomeroy-0814.html ] He also taught at the Lenox School of Music, where he conducted a full orchestra of his own students.In the later part of Mr. Pomeroy's life he did several workshops for local Middle and High School aged students most notably with the Gloucester Educatation Foundation.

Herb the Legend

Herb Pomeroy was recognized as the Boston Musician's Association 2004 Musician of the Year and received an honorary degree from Berklee after he retired in 1995. His final concert with the Berklee Jazz Ensemble was attended by well-noted musicians from around the world. In 1996 Pomeroy was inducted into the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) Hall of Fame, and in 1997 he was inducted into the "Down Beat" Jazz Education Hall of Fame. After his retirement, Herb Pomeroy graciously gave his time helping people study jazz in the Greater Boston area.

Former students

Former students include such diverse players as Gary Burton, Alan Broadbent, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Gary McFarland, Franck Amsallem, Dennis Wilson, Lee Allen (pianist) and Miroslav Vitouš. People who played in his big bands run the gamut from Boots Mussulli to Sam Rivers and include such influential musicians as Alan Dawson, Jaki Byard (as saxophonist and arranger), Phil Wilson, Ray Santisi, Greg Hopkins, Dick Johnson, Charlie Mariano, Michael Gibbs, John LaPorta, Lennie Johnson, Serge Chaloff, Ryan Shore, Mike Nock, Bill Berry, Hal Galper, Joe Gordon, and many others.

elect discography

With "Donna Byrne"
*"Walking On Air" (Arbors Records)
*"Life is a Many Splendored Gig" - The Herb Pomeroy Orchestra Roulette Records LP R-52001
*"Band in Boston" - The Herb Pomeroy Orchestra United Artists Records LP UAS 5015
*"The Band and I" - Irene Kral and the Herb Pomeroy Orchestra United Artists Records LP UAS 5016
*"Pramlatta's Hips" - The Herb Pomeroy Orchestra Shiah Records LP HP-1
*"Charlie Parker at Storyville" - Charlie Parker with ensemble including Herb Pomeroy on five tracks Blue Note Records LP BT-85108
*"Here's to Joe" - Paul Broadnax with ensemble including Herb Pomeroy Brownstone Recordings CD BRCD 9611
*"The Bird You Never Heard" - Charlie Parker with Bostonians Herb Pomeroy, Bernie Griggs, and Baggy Grant on four tracks Stash Records CD ST-CD-10
*"Live at Café Beaujolais" - The Herb Pomeroy Trio Weller Records
*"Jazz in a Stable" - Transition LP TRLP 1

Sources

* http://web.mit.edu/fje/www/bios/herb.html
* http://www.newenglandconservatory.edu/faculty/pomeroyH.html
* http://www.bostonmusicians.org/herb.htm

References

External links

* [http://jazzhistorydatabase.com/collections/studio3-videos.html Herb Pomeroy solos and interview with Studio 3]