Born in Moscow, Valery Ponomarev made his debut as a jazz trumpeter at Moscow's earliest jazz clubs and festivals in the mid-1960s. His first record Jazz 67 was released by Melodiya.
On July 31, 1973, he defected to the United States where he joined the famous band The Jazz Messengers in 1977. Together they recorded eleven albums and toured the world. In 1980 he started his solo career.
Ponomarev has composed over 40 original pieces, most of which he has recorded himself on his solo albums. He also teaches extensively, from private lessons and master classes at US colleges to summer jazz camps.
The Koktebel Jazz Party will feature the Ponomarev sextet, We Remember Art Blakey. All musicians are members of the Ponomarev-led Big Band Our Father Who Art Blakey, and include:
— Peter Brainin, saxophone;
— Stafford Hunter, trombone;
— Mamiko Watanabe, piano;
— Rouslan Khain, bass;
— Victor Jones, drums.
Ponomarev's Big Band is regarded as one of the most interesting jazz bands around. The musicians try to convey the atmosphere of the 1950s and 1960s, as if telling the story of the transformation of jazz music in the decades since.
The group has a vast repertoire, but the compositions devoted to Art Blakey and his band, The Jazz Messengers, are crowd favorites, and they will be performed at the Koktebel Jazz Party. The band will treat audiences to
this universally adored music, bringing together not only the original small group arrangements but also the solos, accompaniment and harmonies as they were played by Art Blakey and such musicians as Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter and Curtis Fuller. And yet regardless of who plays this music, it puts audiences under a spell from the first notes.
Art Blakey was known for his eye for young talent like Ponomarev. Now that he's a band leader, Ponomarev tries to give opportunities to up and coming jazz musicians.