Ed Polcer (born February 10, 1937 in

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

cornetist, bandleader, festival director, club owner, and mentor of young musicians. He has been described as a "melodic mellow-toned cornetist with an unforced delivery". Polcer started leading jazz bands while attending

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. While at Princeton studying engineering, he was headed toward a promising career as a professional baseball player. During that time, he was asked to play at the wedding of

Princess Grace Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956. Kelly ...

and

Prince Rainier Rainier III (Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Grimaldi; 31 May 1923 – 6 April 2005) was Prince of Monaco from 1949 to his death in 2005. Rainier ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost 56 years, making him one of the longest-ruling m ...

in Monaco, as well as a concert in

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

. He chose music over baseball. When cornetist

Bobby Hackett Robert Leo Hackett (January 31, 1915 – June 7, 1976) was an American jazz musician who played trumpet, cornet, and guitar with the bands of Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Hackett was a featured soloist o ...

recommended him to

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...

, he abandoned his engineering and purchasing day jobs and joined Goodman's small band. Other musicians in that band included

John Bunch John Bunch (December 1, 1921 – March 30, 2010) was an American jazz pianist. Early life Born and raised in Tipton, Indiana, a small farming community, Bunch studied piano with George Johnson, a Hoosier jazz pianist. By the age of 14, he ...

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George Masso George Masso (November 17, 1926 – October 22, 2019) was an American jazz trombonist, bandleader, vibraphonist, and composer specializing in swing and Dixieland. Masso is notable for his work from 1948–1950 as a member of the Jimmy Dorsey band ...

, and

Peter Appleyard Peter Appleyard, (26 August 1928 – 17 July 2013) was a British–Canadian jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and composer. He spent most of his life in the city of Toronto, where for many years he was a popular performer in nightclubs and ho ...

. While in his 20s and 30s, Polcer played with

Teddy Wilson Theodore Shaw Wilson (November 24, 1912 – July 31, 1986) was an American jazz pianist. Described by critic Scott Yanow as "the definitive swing pianist", Wilson had a sophisticated, elegant style. His work was featured on the records of ma ...

, Bobby Hackett,

Kenny Davern John Kenneth Davern (January 7, 1935 – December 12, 2006) was an American jazz clarinetist. Biography He was born in Huntington, Long Island, to a family of mixed Jewish and Irish-Catholic ancestry. His mother's family originally came from Vi ...

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Mark Miller, "Herbie Nichols, A Jazzists's Life", The Mercury Press, 2009, pgs. 132-134 and

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. With his wife, singer and actress Judy Kurtz, Polcer managed and co-owned (with Red Balaban) Eddie Condon's Jazz Club in New York City from 1977–1985. Sharing the bandstand with him at the club were such musicians as

Vic Dickenson Victor Dickenson (August 6, 1906 – November 16, 1984) was an American jazz trombonist. His career began in the 1920s and continued through musical partnerships with Count Basie (1940–41), Sidney Bechet (1941), and Earl Hines. Life and care ...

Herb Hall Herbert L. Hall (March 28, 1907 – March 5, 1996) was an American jazz clarinetist and alto saxophonist. Early life Hall was born in Reserve, Louisiana, the brother of Edmond Hall and the son of clarinetist Edward Hall. Career Hall began ...

, and

Connie Kay Conrad Henry Kirnon (April 27, 1927 – November 30, 1994) known professionally as Connie Kay, was an American jazz and R&B drummer, who was a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Self-taught on drums, he began performing in Los Angeles in the mid ...

. He was instrumental in giving several younger musicians, such as Scott Hamilton, Warren Vache,

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, and Mark Shane a showcase of their talents at Eddie Condon's. After the wrecking ball demolished the club, he toured the country with his shows A Night at Eddie Condon's, The Magic of Swing Street, and When Broadway Meets Swing Street. He served as musical director of several jazz festivals, including the North Carolina Jazz Festival, Colorado Springs Jazz Party, and San Diego Jazz Party. In the 1980s, he served as president of the Long Island, New York-based non-profit International Art of Jazz, which promoted community and corporate involvement in jazz, presented jazz programs, produced the Islip Jazz Festival and implemented a state-wide jazz arts-in-education program. He played for five U.S. Presidents, including the Congressional Ball at the White House for President Clinton in 1994, and played in Thailand with the King of Thailand, a jazz clarinetist and enthusiast.

Personal life

Polcer's father and uncle were part-time musicians. His first instrument was the xylophone, which he played in local church shows and talent contests starting at the age of five, with his younger sister Betty. He was encouraged to learn a second instrument, the trumpet, at the age of nine. His first marriage to Barbara Fimbel ended in divorce. He and Barbara had one daughter, Karen, and they adopted a Vietnamese war orphan, James. In 1976, he married Judy Kurtz, and they have two sons, Sam, born 1977, and Ben, born 1978.

Awards and honors

*2002 New Jersey Jazz Society lifetime achievement award *2009 San Diego Jazz Party, Jazz Legend *2012 Atlanta Jazz Preservation Society, "For unyielding commitment to the preservation of our beloved American art form of jazz"

Discography

As leader

* 1982 ''In the Condon Tradition'' (

Jazzology Jazzology Records is an American jazz record company and label. It is part of the Jazzology group of labels owned and operated by the George H. Buck Jr. Jazz Foundation. Jazzology Records was founded in 1949 by George H. Buck, Jr. That year he ...

) * 1993 ''The Magic of Swing Street'' (Blewz Manor) * 1993 ''A Salute to Eddie Condon'' (Nagel Heyer) * 1994 ''Coast to Coast Swingin' Jazz'' (Jazzology) * 1994 ''Some Sunny Day'' (Jazzology) * 1995 ''Jammin' a la Condon'' (Jazzology) * 2000 ''The Magic of Swing'' * 2003 ''Let's Do It'' (Blewz Manor) * 2005 ''At the Ball'' (Jazzology) * 2008 ''Lionel, Red & Bunny'' (Blewz Manor)

As sideman

* 1975 ''Fats Waller Revisited'',

* 1977 ''Double Time'',

Leon Redbone Leon Redbone (born Dickran Gobalian; August 26, 1949 – May 30, 2019) was a singer-songwriter and musician specializing in jazz, blues, and Tin Pan Alley classics. Recognized by his hat (often a Panama hat), dark sunglasses, and black tie, Red ...

* 1981 ''From Branch to Branch'', Leon Redbone * 1988 ''At the Grand Opera House, Vol. 1'', Doctor Billy Dodd * 1988 ''At the Grand Opera House, Vol. 2'', Doctor Billy Dodd * 1994 ''At the Atlanta Jazz Party'', Barbara Lea * 1995 ''Whose Honey Are You?'', Terry Blaine * 2002 ''Born to Swing'', Daryl Sherman * 2002 ''Jammin' for Condon'',

Lino Patruno I Gufi ("The Owls", also spelled just as Gufi) was an Italian musical and comedy ensemble, mainly successful in the second half of the 1960s. Career The group formed in Milan between 1963 and 1964, and debuted on stage with the show "I Gufi canta ...

* 2004 ''A Multitude of Stars'', Statesmen of Jazz * 2004 ''Ballads, Burners and Blues'',

Allan Vache Allan may refer to: People * Allan (name), a given name and surname, including list of people and characters with this name * Allan (footballer, born 1984) (Allan Barreto da Silva), Brazilian football striker * Allan (footballer, born 1989) (A ...

* 2004 ''With Thee I Swing'', Terry Blaine/ Mark Shane * 2007 ''Puttin' on the Ritz'',

Jonathan Russell Jonathan Russell (February 27, 1771 – February 17, 1832) was a United States representative from Massachusetts and diplomat. He served the 11th congressional district from 1821 to 1823 and was the first chair of the House Committee on Foreig ...

* 2007 ''When Broadway Meets Swing Street'', Judy Kurtz

References

Other sources

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born October 4, 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.Allmusic Biography/ref> Biography Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Since 1974, he was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles an ...

Ed Polcer Ed Polcer (born February 10, 1937 in Paterson, New Jersey, United States) is an American jazz cornetist, bandleader, festival director, club owner, and mentor of young musicians. He has been described as a "melodic mellow-toned cornetist with an ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

* Lew Shaw, ''Jazz Beat – Notes on Classic Jazz'', AZ told Publishing Co., Scottsdale AZ, 2013, p. 5, 6, 129–132 * Barry Kernfeld editor, ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'', St. Martin's Press NY, 1995, p. 990 * K. Abe', "Jazz Giants", p. 273 * Leonard Feather and Ira Gitler, ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'', Oxford University Press, 1999, p. 533 *

Ian Carr Ian Carr (21 April 1933 – 25 February 2009) was a Scottish jazz musician, composer, writer, and educator. Carr performed and recorded with the Rendell-Carr quintet and jazz-fusion band Nucleus, and was an associate professor at the Guildhall ...

Digby Fairweather Richard John Charles "Digby" Fairweather (born 25 April 1946) is a British jazz cornetist, author and broadcaster. Biography Before becoming a professional musician, Fairweather was a librarian and has retained an interest in jazz bibliograph ...

Brian Priestley Brian Priestley (born 10 July 1940)Many sources list Priestley's year of birth as 1946, but this is inaccurate. See Priestley's entry in ''The Rough Guide to Jazz'' anon his revised Charlie Parker study. is an English jazz writer, pianist and a ...

, ''Jazz, The Essential Companion'', Grafton Books, London, 1987, p. 395 * Ian Carr, Digby Fairweather, Brian Priestley, ''Jazz, The Rough Guide'', Penguin Books, London, p. 511 * Chip Deffaa, ''Traditionalists and Revivalists in Jazz'', Scarecrow Press, Newark NJ, 1993 * Scott Yanow, ''The Trumpet Kings – The Players Who Shaped The Sound of Jazz Trumpet'', 2001, p. 298

External Links

Ed Polcer Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2021) {{DEFAULTSORT:Polcer, Ed 1937 births Living people American jazz cornetists Musicians from New Jersey Statesmen of Jazz members