Pony Poindexter
Encyclopedia
Norwood "Pony" Poindexter (Feb. 8, 1926, New Orleans, Louisiana
- Apr. 14, 1988, Oakland, California
) was an American jazz
saxophonist.
Poindexter began on clarinet and switched to playing alto and tenor sax growing up. In 1940 he studied under Sidney Desvigne
, and following this attended Candell Conservatory in Oakland, where he based himself. From 1947 to 1950 he played with Billy Eckstine
. In 1950 he played in a quartet with Vernon Alley
, from 1951 to 1952 he was with Lionel Hampton
and in 1952 he played with Stan Kenton
. Neal Hefti
wrote the tune "Little Pony", named after Poindexter, for the Count Basie
Orchestra.
Through the end of the 1950s Poindexter played extensively both as a leader and as a sideman, recording with Charlie Parker
, Nat King Cole
, T-Bone Walker
and Jimmy Witherspoon
. From 1961 to 1964, he played backup for Lambert
, Hendricks
and Ross
, who together also recorded a vocal version of "Little Pony". He was one of the first bebop
saxophonists to begin playing soprano saxophone
early in the 1960s, and recorded with Eric Dolphy
and Dexter Gordon
on a session for Epic Records
around 1962. In 1963 he moved to Paris
; while there he recorded with Ross, Phil Woods
, Lee Konitz
and Leo Wright
. He later moved to Spain
and then to Mannheim, Germany; in 1977 he returned to San Francisco and recorded again. He published an autobiography
, Pony Express, in 1985, but had been largely forgotten by the time of his death in 1988.
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
- Apr. 14, 1988, Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
) was an American jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
saxophonist.
Poindexter began on clarinet and switched to playing alto and tenor sax growing up. In 1940 he studied under Sidney Desvigne
Sidney Desvigne
Sidney Desvigne was an American jazz trumpeter.Desvigne played in a large number of noted 1910s and 1920s-era New Orleans Jazz ensembles, including Leonard Bechet's Silver Bell Band, the Maple Leaf Orchestra, the Excelsior Brass Band, and Ed Allen's Whispering Gold Band. He and Fate Marable often...
, and following this attended Candell Conservatory in Oakland, where he based himself. From 1947 to 1950 he played with Billy Eckstine
Billy Eckstine
William Clarence Eckstine was an American singer of ballads and a bandleader of the swing era. Eckstine's smooth baritone and distinctive vibrato broke down barriers throughout the 1940s, first as leader of the original bop big-band, then as the first romantic black male in popular...
. In 1950 he played in a quartet with Vernon Alley
Vernon Alley
Vernon Alley was an American jazz bassist.Alley was born in Winnemucca, Nevada, and played football in high school and college. His brother, Eddy Allen, was a drummer; they played together often. Vernon played with Wes People in 1937 and with Saunders King until the end of the decade...
, from 1951 to 1952 he was with Lionel Hampton
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
and in 1952 he played with Stan Kenton
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb "Stan" Kenton was a pianist, composer, and arranger who led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator....
. Neal Hefti
Neal Hefti
Neal Hefti was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, tune writer, and arranger. He was perhaps best known for composing the theme music for the Batman television series of the 1960s, and for scoring the 1968 film The Odd Couple and the subsequent TV series of the same name.He began arranging...
wrote the tune "Little Pony", named after Poindexter, for the Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
Orchestra.
Through the end of the 1950s Poindexter played extensively both as a leader and as a sideman, recording with Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
, Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
, T-Bone Walker
T-Bone Walker
Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker was a critically acclaimed American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who was one of the most influential pioneers and innovators of the jump blues and electric blues sound. He is the first musician recorded playing blues with the...
and Jimmy Witherspoon
Jimmy Witherspoon
Jimmy Witherspoon was an American jump blues singer.-Early life and career:James Witherspoon was born in Gurdon, Arkansas. He first attracted attention singing with Teddy Weatherford's band in Calcutta, India, which made regular radio broadcasts over the U. S. Armed Forces Radio Service during...
. From 1961 to 1964, he played backup for Lambert
Dave Lambert
David Alden Lambert , was an American jazz lyricist, singer, and an originator of vocalese. He was best known as a member of the trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. Lambert spent a lifetime experimenting with the human voice, and expanding the possibilities of its use within jazz.Lambert's band debut...
, Hendricks
Jon Hendricks
Jon Hendricks is an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is considered one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and replaces many instruments with vocalists...
and Ross
Annie Ross
Annie Ross is an English jazz singer, and actress, best known as a member of the trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross.-Early years:...
, who together also recorded a vocal version of "Little Pony". He was one of the first bebop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
saxophonists to begin playing soprano saxophone
Soprano saxophone
The soprano saxophone is a variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument, invented in 1840. The soprano is the third smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists of the soprillo, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass and tubax.A transposing instrument pitched in...
early in the 1960s, and recorded with Eric Dolphy
Eric Dolphy
Eric Allan Dolphy was an American jazz alto saxophonist, flutist, and bass clarinetist. On a few occasions he also played the clarinet and baritone saxophone. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain prominence in the 1960s...
and Dexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and an Academy Award-nominated actor . He is regarded as one of the first and most important musicians to adapt the bebop musical language of people like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell to the tenor saxophone...
on a session for Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
around 1962. In 1963 he moved to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
; while there he recorded with Ross, Phil Woods
Phil Woods
Philip Wells Woods is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.-Biography:...
, Lee Konitz
Lee Konitz
Lee Konitz is an American jazz composer and alto saxophonist born in Chicago, Illinois.Generally considered one of the driving forces of Cool Jazz, Konitz has also performed successfully in bebop and avant-garde settings...
and Leo Wright
Leo Wright
Leo Wright was an American jazz musician who played alto saxophone, flute and clarinet...
. He later moved to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and then to Mannheim, Germany; in 1977 he returned to San Francisco and recorded again. He published an autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, Pony Express, in 1985, but had been largely forgotten by the time of his death in 1988.
Discography
- Lambert, Hendricks & Ross: The Hottest Group in Jazz (Columbia, 1959-62)
- Wes Montgomery, Buddy Montgomery, Monk Montgomery: Far Wes (Pacific Jazz, 1958-59)
- Pony's Express(Koch, 1962) with Eric DolphyEric DolphyEric Allan Dolphy was an American jazz alto saxophonist, flutist, and bass clarinetist. On a few occasions he also played the clarinet and baritone saxophone. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain prominence in the 1960s...
, Gene QuillGene QuillDaniel Eugene Quill was an American alto saxophonist known for his bebop jazz records with Phil Woods. He and Woods recorded as Phil and Quill...
, Sonny RedSonny RedSonny Red was an American alto saxophonist associated with the hard bop idiom among other styles...
, Phil WoodsPhil WoodsPhilip Wells Woods is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.-Biography:...
, Jimmy HeathJimmy HeathJames Edward Heath , nicknamed Little Bird, is an American jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger. He is the brother of bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert Heath.-Biography:...
, Clifford JordanClifford JordanClifford Laconia Jordan was a jazz saxophone player. While in Chicago, he performed with Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, and some rhythm and blues groups. He moved to New York City in 1957, after which he recorded three albums for Blue Note. He also recorded with Horace Silver, J.J. Johnson, Kenny...
, Sal NisticoSal NisticoSal Nistico, born Salvatore Nistico 2 April 1938 in Syracuse , died 3 March 1991 in Berne, Switzerland, was a jazz tenor saxophonist....
, Pepper AdamsPepper AdamsPark Frederick "Pepper" Adams III was a jazz baritone saxophonist and composer. He composed 43 pieces, was the leader on twenty albums, and participated in 600 sessions as a sideman.-Biography:...
, Ron CarterRon CarterRon Carter is an American jazz double-bassist. His appearances on over 2,500 albums make him one of the most-recorded bassists in jazz history, along with Milt Hinton, Ray Brown and Leroy Vinnegar. Carter is also an acclaimed cellist who has recorded numerous times on that...
, Elvin JonesElvin JonesElvin Ray Jones was a jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan.... - In Barcelona (Fresh Sound Records, 1972)