Herb Pomeroy
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Herb Pomeroy is an influential jazz trumpeter and educator. He has played with legends such as Charlie Parker and Lionel Hampton as well as his own jazz bands for over half a century.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Herb was born in 1930 in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He began playing trumpet at an early age, and in his early teens starting gigging in the greater Boston area, claiming inspiration from the music of Louis Armstrong. In 1946, at the age of 16, Herb 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 School of Music, where he excelled as a jazz trumpeter and began to find his calling in bebop.
[edit] Herb the Performer
Herb attended Harvard University for one year, but dropped out to pursue his jazz career. Herb signed on with Charlie Parker, and began performing live and in the studio with the legendary performer. Herb has also played with the likes of Lionel Hampton, Stan Kenton, and Serge Chaloff. After his tenure of signing on to other performers, Herb established the Herb Pomeroy Big Band, which found home at the Stable, a Boston club. His band began playing in venues such as Carnegie Hall and at established concerts such as the Newport Jazz Festival alongside the likes of Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington. Herb also backed up several solo singers, including Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra. Herb became noted as a true master of music theory and musical form, and had an interesting method of playing. Although Herb could rarely hit above a G or A (one half step above the top leger line of the treble clef), his mastery of the range he was limited to was uncanny.
[edit] Herb the Teacher
In addition to Herb's successful performing career, he has also enjoyed a highly successful teaching career. He was a renound teacher at the Berklee School of Music in Boston for 41 years and helped to spread jazz to the Boston community. In 1963 Herb was enlisted to revitalize a venerable but moribund big band, The Techtonians, at MIT. It was rebranded the Festival Jazz Ensemble and Herb continued as its director for 22 years. He also taught at the Lenox School of Music, where he conducted a full orchestra of his own students. Herb has also taught at countless universities, mostly in the Boston area (Brandeis, Harvard, and MIT are only a few).
[edit] Herb the Legend
Herb's impact on jazz music has been profound. Herb was recognized as 2004 Boston Musician's Association 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, Herb was inducted into the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) Hall of Fame, and in 1997 was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Education Hall of Fame. Herb's influence can be heard in his spectacular studio work, but is best found in his work as an educator. Since his retirement, Herb has graciously given his time into helping the study of Jazz in the Boston area. An example of his work is at the Middlesex School, a small private school in Concord, Massachusetts, where Herb recently was asked to give two "master lessons" to the school jazz band. He continues to gig and teach.
