Henry Jerome (November 12, 1917 – March 23, 2011) was an American big band leader, trumpeter, arranger, composer, and record company executive. Jerome formed his first dance band in 1932 in

Norwich, Connecticut Norwich ( ) (also called "The Rose of New England") is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Yantic, Shetucket, and Quinebaug Rivers flow into the city and form its harbor, from which the Thames River flows south to Long ...

. His bands flourished throughout the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s. He became an A&R director at

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

in 1959 and at

Coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

, a Decca subsidiary, in the late 1960s.

Career

Jerome attended primary and secondary schools in Norwich, public for the former and

Norwich Free Academy The Norwich Free Academy (NFA), founded in 1854 and in operation since 1856, is a coeducational independent school for students between the 9th and 12th grade. Located in Norwich, Connecticut, the Academy serves as the primary high school for Norw ...

for the latter. He attended the

Juilliard School of Music The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

, studying trumpet with

Max Schlossberg Max Schlossberg (5 November 1873 – 23 September 1936) was a Jewish- Baltic trumpeter, conductor, composer, and teacher. His legacy is a large number of successful trumpet students and the method book, ''Daily Drills and Technical Studies''. Li ...

and composition and orchestration with

William Vacchiano William Vacchiano (May 23, 1912 – September 19, 2005) was a trumpeter and trumpet instructor. Originally from Portland, Maine, Vacchiano studied trumpet at age 12. At 14 years old, he was playing in the Portland Symphony. For five years (19 ...

. Jerome formed his first professional orchestra while in 1931 when he was 14. In high school he received an offer from the

American Export Lines American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines, New York, was the leading US-flag shipping company between the U.S. east coast and the Mediterranean from 1919 to 1977, offering both cargo ship and passenger ship services, until it declared bankruptcy and was ...

for his orchestra to perform on a ship sailing from New York to Europe. Without quitting school, Jerome secured permission from the Norwich Free Academy to accept the job. Henry Jerome and His Orchestra performed at clubs, hotels, ballrooms, and theaters throughout the United States, and began performing on radio and TV in 1940. On February 28, 1948, the band was scheduled to perform at the Green Room of the

Hotel Edison Hotel Edison is at 228 West 47th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Opened in 1931, it is part of the Triumph Hotels brand, owned by Shimmie Horn and Gerald Barad. Thomas Edison turned on the lights when it opened. It accommodated 1,0 ...

in New York City to fill a nine-day gap between Claudia Carroll's closing and Alvy West– Buddy Greco's opening on March 26.New York: Henry Jerome, ''Billboard'', March 6, 1948, pg. 22 From then on, Henry Jerome and His Orchestra performed regularly. In 1952,

ABC Radio Network Cumulus Media Networks was an American radio network owned and operated by Cumulus Media. From 2011 until its merger with Westwood One, it controlled many of the radio assets formerly belonging to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which w ...

began

broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...

''Dinner at the Green Room''. According to a review in the December 11, 1948, issue of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'', Jerome had perfected the style of

Hal Kemp James Hal Kemp (March 27, 1904 – December 21, 1940) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader, composer, and arranger. Biography Hal Kemp was born in Marion, Alabama. He formed his first band in high school, and by the a ...

, a softer style that suited many hotels. The band included Alan Greenspan (1944)

Clyde Reasinger Clyde Reasinger ''(né'' Clyde Melvin Reasinger; 1927 – March 26, 2018) was an American trumpeter known for his work in big bands and recording studios. Reasinger was born in Pennsylvania, and began his musical career in the late 1940s. He lat ...

(1960), and

Joe Harnell Joseph Harnell (August 2, 1924 – July 14, 2005) was an American composer, musician, and music arranger. Early life His father was a vaudeville performer who also played in jazz and klezmer ensembles. Harnell began playing piano at age six and ...

(1944) Jerome was A&R director at

Coral Records Coral Records was a subsidiary of Decca Records that was formed in 1949. Coral released music by Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, the McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer. Coral issued jazz and swing music in the 1940s, but after Bob Thiele became head o ...

, and

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

from 1959 to 1968. He became A&R director of

United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1959, ...

from 1968 to 1970. In 1971, he became president of Green Menu Music Factory, collaborating with

Kim Gannon James Kimball "Kim" Gannon (November 18, 1900 – April 29, 1974) was an American songwriter, more commonly a lyricist than a composer. Biography Gannon was born in Brooklyn, New York to an Irish-American family from Fort Ann in upstate New ...

, Leonard Whitcup,

Bobbi Martin Barbara Ann "Bobbi" Martin (November 29, 1939 – May 2, 2000) was an American country music, country and pop music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She grew up in Oslo, Minnesota and began her singing career in Baltimore, working her way up ...

, Norman Simon, Angelo Musulino. He became a member of ASCAP in 1951. He used two pseudonyms, Van Grayson and Al Mortimer, to get royalties for musicians that he put on salary. In the early 1960s, Henry Jerome and His Orchestra recorded eleven albums under the name "Brazen Brass", from which four singles reached the top 10 worldwide. Jerome conceived the idea and

Dick Jacobs Dick Jacobs (29 March 1918 – 20 May 1988) was an American musician, conductor, arranger, orchestrator, music director and an artists-and-repertoire director for several record labels (Coral, Decca, Brunswick and Springboard). He helped ...

wrote the arrangements.

Awards and honors

* Grammy Award, Best Score from an Original Cast Show Album, ''Promises, Promises'', 1969 * Norwich, Connecticut, Native Son Award, 1974

Discography

* ''Brazen Brass'' (Decca, 1957) * ''Brazen Brass Plays Songs Everybody Knows'' (Decca, 1961) * ''Brazen Brass Goes Hollywood'' (Decca, 1961) * ''Brazen Brass Brings Back the Bands!'' (Decca, 1961) * ''Brazen Brass Features Saxes'' (Decca, 1961) * ''Brazen Brass Zings the Strings'' (Decca, 1961) * ''Brazen Brass Goes Latin'' (Decca, 1961) * ''Brazen Brass: New sounds in Folk Music'' (Decca, 1961) * ''Brazen Brass: Strings in Dixieland'' (Decca, 1961) * ''Brazen Brass: Legends of Lounge'' (Decca, 1961) * ''Cocktail Brazen Brass'' Brunswick, 1965)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jerome, Henry 1917 births 2011 deaths American jazz bandleaders Juilliard School alumni