Herb Pomeroy RIP

[Stereojack]

Trumpeter, bandleader, educator, and mentor to a generation of musicians, Herb Pomeroy passed away on Saturday, August 11. He was 77.

Herb was woven into the fabric of Boston jazz, from playing with Charlie Parker on his visits here in the 1950s to his teaching and mentoring students at Berklee for over forty years. Trumpeter Joe Gordon and pianist Jaki Byard played in his big band, among others.

To say he will be missed is a gross understatement.

Edited August 12, 2007 by Stereojack

[ghost of miles]

Yes, heard this earlier today--very sorry to learn of his passing & I know this will be sad news for many on the New England jazz scene.

[makpjazz57]

This is certainly a very sad time.

Herb was a giant as a musican and educator and one of the nicest, kindest guys out there. A wonderful man and I know his passing has and will affect many, as he was highly respected and much loved.

Marla

[Chuck Nessa]

Damn. It's been a bad spell.

[J.A.W.]

Another bad day for music...

[Kalo]

Sad news for this Bostonian.

[brownie]

Another one

One of the last musician who could claim having played with Bird!

[Big Beat Steve]

Too bad ... It's news like this that make you realize how much time has passed since the 50s.

Time to give his "Band In Boston" LP (and some others) a spin tonight ...

[king ubu]

Sad news

I don't have much of his music, though... would be a good case for a Mosaic Select, I guess.

[Big Beat Steve]

King Ubu, you know there ARE other labels (lots, in fact) that DO reissue FINE jazz music that is well compiled and thorougly annotated!

In short, there IS a life in jazz reissues outside Mosaic!

[king ubu]

King Ubu, you know there ARE other labels (lots, in fact) that DO reissue FINE jazz music that is well compiled and thorougly annotated!

In short, there IS a life in jazz reissues outside Mosaic!

yes, of course I know... i have 4000 CDs NOT by Mosaic... (and 50 Mosaics...)

just I don't think nobody bothers to put out any of Pomeroy's Roulette stuff these days (I have one disc on Freshsound - one of their ugly 80s releases).

[Big Beat Steve]

You talking about "Life Is A Many Splendored Gig"?

At least FS bothered to reproduce the original artwork when others (except the Japanese and VSOP) mostly slapped silly updated/"modernized" covers on their vinyl reissues.

OK, this may be far less important in the CD age but I admit that the Mosaic Select "corporate identity" artwork leaves me cold. I just happen to prefer other styles when it comes to packaging.

That said, I could very well imagine some early Pomeroy reissues on the Uptown label. Might tie in nicely with their Serge Chaloff CD...

[king ubu]

You talking about "Life Is A Many Splendored Gig"?

At least FS bothered to reproduce the original artwork when others (except the Japanese and VSOP) mostly slapped silly updated/"modernized" covers on their vinyl reissues.

OK, this may be far less important in the CD age but I admit that the Mosaic Select "corporate identity" artwork leaves me cold. I just happen to prefer other styles when it comes to packaging.

That said, I could very well imagine some early Pomeroy reissues on the Uptown label. Might tie in nicely with their Serge Chaloff CD...

Yes, that one. Only one of his leader albums I have.

I don't care that much for the artwork/packaging stuff... of course I like well-done box sets and nice photos, but the main thing is the music... as for Selects, I don't like how they're designed a lot, but with the normal boxes having gotten so big, I think they're a great idea. I like a lot some of those 3CD and 4CD big ones I have (Jacquet, Thad Jones, Sam Rivers, Blue Mitchell, to name a few) and think it's somewhat a pity that these small ones are now only possible as Selects...

Anyway, this should be about Pomery... so where could I continue looking for more?

[Big Beat Steve]

Try his "Band In Boston" LP (i.e. its reissue) released shortly after the "Splendored Gig" LP.

Another nice one would be his very first LP:

Jazz In A Stable on Transition TRLP-1 released in 1956 (one of those LP's on the Transition "cult" label that fetch silly prices among collectors on eBay but the reissues should be far more affordable).

Edited August 13, 2007 by Big Beat Steve

[JPF]

Trumpeter, bandleader, educator, and mentor to a generation of musicians, Herb Pomeroy passed away on Saturday, August 11. He was 77.

Herb was woven into the fabric of Boston jazz, from playing with Charlie Parker on his visits here in the 1950s to his teaching and mentoring students at Berklee for over forty years. Trumpeter Joe Gordon and pianist Jaki Byard played in his big band, among others.

To say he will be missed is a gross understatement.

Thanks for the heads-up, Stereojack. Your post was the first I heard of this because the Boston Globe, for reasons known only to them, hasn't even posted an obit, never mind the front page article this deserves. There is an obit in the Gloucester paper, however:

WEB UPDATE: Herb Pomeroy dead at 77; Gloucester jazz legend recalled as music mentor

Douglas A. Moser

— He never let any of his students or colleagues forget that making music is a joy and a privilege.

Judging from his own maxim and the testimony of those close to him, Irving "Herb" Pomeroy III crafted himself an existence of joy and privilege and did what he could to share it with the world around him, whether it be music or life itself.

The renowned jazz trumpeter and teacher, Gloucester born and raised, died at his home on Rust Island Saturday afternoon after a series of bouts with cancer. He was 77.

"As a daughter I appreciated him being the Rock of Gibraltar, and it's eye-opening to me at this point how far-reaching his effect was," Perry Pomeroy, 49 of Hamilton, said. "I knew that he was loved, that wasn't a surprise. It was the intimacy he offered to people everywhere. He was capable of global intimacy somehow."

Musicians around the world upon hearing of Pomeroy's recent ill turn of health, sent dozens upon dozens of cards wishing him well and a speedy recovery. Family members said they have received cards and letters from those he taught, those he played with, and "we're not just talking people he was close to, but guys he taught at MIT 30 years ago that are writing these and talking about how he so affected their lives and his influence on them," said son Eden Pomeroy.

Roughly 25 cards have been arriving daily, he said, and 35 came yesterday.

Guitarist Anthony Weller said Sunday, before playing a concert at Stage Fort Park leading the Herb Pomeroy Trio in the namesake's stead, that Pomeroy's influence touched a generation of musicians at teaching at Berklee School of Music in Boston, directing the Festival Jazz Ensemble at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge and playing shows for decades both locally and around the world.

Eden and Perry Pomeroy remember a father first, however, and a musician and teacher, busy engaging the globe, second.

"No matter what was going on, my lunch money would appear on my dresser every night, no matter how late he was working," Perry Pomeroy said. "It was one of the little things that meant so much. He was always there. He was very good at taking care of business for us."

Copyright © 1999-2006 cnhi, inc.

I first heard Herb's big band in person at the Stable in Boston, back in the late 50's. He had Jaki Byard in the band then, playing tenor. I was privileged to hear the band many times over the years and to get to meet him during the band's longtime Monday night residency at the late lamented El Morocco in Worcester, MA. I heard the band for the last time back in 1994 at Chan's in Woonsocket, RI, and they were as good as ever - maybe better. As I've written elsewhere, to watch Herb conduct was to watch a master in action. If I were an arranger or composer, I would have been honored to have Herb conduct a chart of mine - and I'll bet many writers were. And as a trumpeter, he was extremely underrated. Listen to him on John Lewis' "Wonderful World of Jazz" as an example.

He was without a doubt the dean of the Boston jazz scene, and will be missed by many. I hope all those whose careers he helped start at Berklee and the New England Conservatory will honor him in their own ways in the upcoming days and weeks. He deserves it.

Edited August 14, 2007 by JPF

[brownie]

Small item in today's Boston Globe:

Other deaths

August 14, 2007

POMEROY, Herb -- In Gloucester, Saturday, at 77. A virtuoso trumpet player who taught generations of musicians, Mr. Pomeroy was considered a leading force in Boston's jazz scene.

They obviously had not prepared a proper obituary! Trust that will come later...

[JPF]

Finally, from the Boston Globe:

Creative musician's sweet notes cherished

Jazz trumpet player Herb Pomeroy dies

By Bryan Marquard, Globe Staff | August 14, 2007

Raising trumpet to lips, Herb Pomeroy would play improvised solos so thoughtful and textured it was if the notes danced gracefully in his ear and mind long before they slipped out the bell of his horn.

"He was one of the most skillful and clever of improvisers," said the vibraphonist Gary Burton. "A lot of improvisers, when they soloed, played familiar jazz licks, as we say. Herb was one of the players where you could really see his mind at work. When he played solos, you could see him telling stories, developing themes, creating serious content."

During a career that became a hefty chapter in the history of jazz, Mr. Pomeroy played with bebop luminaries such as Charlie Parker, put together seminal ensembles in Boston, and helped create the field of jazz education as a teacher at Berklee College of Music, MIT, and New England Conservatory.

He died of cancer Saturday afternoon while lying in a bed on the sun porch of his house on Rust Island in Gloucester, surrounded by windows and views he had held dear since his childhood in the North Shore community. Mr. Pomeroy, who was 77, had been a pivotal figure in Boston's jazz scene for decades.

"In this history of Boston jazz, his is the number one name that I think would come up on any musician's list," Burton said.

"Instead of six degrees of separation, you could always connect everybody through Herb Pomeroy," said Bob Blumenthal, a former Globe jazz critic. "He was just the center of it all."

Musicians who sat in with a Pomeroy ensemble, played in his bands, or attended his classes were only one degree away from a who's who of jazz royalty. Along with Burton and Parker, Mr. Pomeroy played at various times with Ornette Coleman, Stan Getz, Lionel Hampton, Coleman Hawkins, Stan Kenton, Gerry Mulligan, Max Roach, and Sonny Rollins.

During four decades at Berklee, 22 years at MIT, and a stint at New England Conservatory, Mr. Pomeroy taught hundreds of students. His bands played at festivals alongside the orchestras of Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman and backed singers including Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett.

"I think it's fair to say, without hyperbole, that there's no single figure in the New England jazz scene who has done more to influence not only jazz performance, but also jazz education," said Fred Harris, director of wind ensembles at MIT, where Mr. Pomeroy founded the Festival Jazz Ensemble.

A passion for teaching and the desire for a reliable income to support his family prompted Mr. Pomeroy to tour less than most performers of his caliber. Nonetheless, musicians say, he left a lasting mark with his trumpet.

"There's just a sound -- the way he holds a tone, the distribution of notes -- and you hear living history," said Ran Blake, a pianist and teacher at New England Conservatory who performed with Mr. Pomeroy.

"He was an extremely warm, concise man, and so his solos tended to be warm and poetic and audacious, I would say," said Anthony Weller of Gloucester, a guitarist who performed in small ensembles with Mr. Pomeroy in recent years. "He surprised us constantly. There was never a sense of, 'Oh, I've heard him play that before.' "

For Mr. Pomeroy, performance always trumped recorded music. Burton, a student of Mr. Pomeroy's at Berklee who later became a teaching colleague, said he wished his friend had recorded more to leave a "permanent record of his talent and contributions."

"I don't really believe in recorded music," Mr. Pomeroy told the Globe in 1995, when he retired from Berklee, from which he received an honorary doctorate. "I think music is such a special thing that it should be just for those who create it and listeners willing to take the trouble to come and hear it."

Born in Gloucester, Irving Herbert Pomeroy III began playing professionally as a teenager. He spent a year at Harvard, then left to become a full-time musician. At 23, he played with Parker, the saxophonist who helped found bebop. After playing in bands led by Hampton and Kenton, he formed the Herb Pomeroy Big Band, which performed often at the fabled Stables jazz club in Copley Square.

Mr. Pomeroy had studied music at Schillinger House, which preceded Berklee, and was a regular at Stables when the college's founder, Larry Berk, asked him to join the faculty.

"I had been working at the Stables, which was good, but it paid $60 per week, which wasn't much when you had a wife and two kids," Mr. Pomeroy told the Globe in 1995. "So I accepted the job for economic reasons."

His courses, including one on Ellington, became legendary. "I came to Berklee as a student when I was 17 years old," Burton said. "Herb was, even at that point, the most charismatic and important teacher at the school."

That warmth carried over into his work with ensembles, where he was known as much for his patience and encouragement as for his exacting standards.

"He was a class act, and he also had this integrity and honesty," said his wife, Dodie Gibbons. "I loved that about him."

Along with his wife, Mr. Pomeroy leaves a daughter, Perry of Hamilton; a son, Eden of Lake Worth, Fla., two sisters, Paula Pomeroy Rix of Ormond Beach, Fla., and Paige Pomeroy Marto of Cookeville, Tenn.; two stepdaughters, Colleen Gibbons of Buffalo and Bridget Gibbons of Bronxville, N.Y.; two stepsons, Kevin Gibbons of West Hartford, Conn., and Daniel Gibbons of San Francisco; 11 grandchildren; and one great-grandson.

A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. on Sept. 9 in Emmanuel Church on Newbury Street in Boston.

© Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company