rving Herbert "Herb" Pomeroy, III (April 15, 1930 in Gloucester, Massachusetts August

11, 2007) was a jazz trumpeter, teacher, and the founder of the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble.

Contents
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1Early life

2Performing career

3Teaching career

4Accolades

5Former students

6Discography

7See also

8References

9External links

Early life[edit]
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 the age of 16, he became a member of the Musicians Union in Gloucester after the union
did not 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, and began to
develop his interest in bebop.

Performing career[edit]
Herb Pomeroy studied dentistry at Harvard University for a 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 clubs. Pomeroy also played
with Lionel Hampton, Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton, and Serge Chalof, among other jazz
musicians. After his experience as a sideman in the big bands of Hampton and Kenton
(separated by a five-month stint at leading his own 13-piece band in the early 1950s),
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 intermittently
until 1993. During that time, and afterward, he led additional 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, 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[by whom?] as a 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 trumpet for the flugelhorn.

Although Herb Pomeroy is generally remembered as a music educator, his first love was
performing as a trumpeter. He ranked leading a band and teaching music second and third,
respectively, in his hierarchy of passions. He was not enthusiastic about 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 ofered
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."

Teaching career[edit]
In addition to his performing career, Herb Pomeroy also enjoyed an active 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
Chalof, 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 the Techtonians big band 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 the Swiss Montreux Jazz Festival. His contribution
to Music at MIT is well known and on May 10, 2008 the university had a memorial concert for
him in the Kresge Auditorium.[1] He also taught at the Lenox School of Music, where he
conducted a full orchestra of his own students. After his retirement, Herb Pomeroy gave his
time helping people study jazz in the Greater Boston area. In the later part of Pomeroy's life
he did several workshops for local Middle and High School-aged students, most notably with
the Gloucester Education Foundation.

Accolades[edit]
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.

Former students[edit]
For Pomeroy's notable students, see List of music students by teacher: N to Q Herb
Pomeroy.

Former students include diverse players such as Gary Burton, Alan Broadbent, Toshiko
Akiyoshi, Mickey Yoshino, Mika Pohjola, Gary McFarland, Franck Amsallem, Duko
Gojkovi, Joe Privek, Dennis Wilson (trombone), Lee Allen (piano), French composer
Michel Barbaud, Slovenian composer Janez Gregorc, and Miroslav Vitou. Musicians 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, Tiger Okoshi (trumpeter), Yoichi J. Takahashi (Jazz
composer and arranger), Dick Johnson, Charlie Mariano, Michael Gibbs, John
LaPorta, Lennie Johnson, Serge Chalof, Ryan Shore, Mike Nock, Bill Berry, Hal Galper, Joe
Gordon, Michael D. Palma, Richard Festinger and many others.

Discography[edit]

Jazz in a Stable (Transition, 1955)

Life is a Many Splendered Gig (Roulette, 1957)

Band in Boston (United Artists, 1958)