Norwood "Pony" Poindexter (February 8, 1926,

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

– April 14, 1988,

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

) was 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 ...

saxophonist. Poindexter began on clarinet and switched to playing alto and tenor sax. In 1940 he studied under Sidney Desvigne, and following World War II attended the newly founded Candell Conservatory of Music in

. From 1947 to 1950 he played with

Billy Eckstine William Clarence Eckstine (July 8, 1914 – March 8, 1993) was an American jazz and pop singer and a bandleader during the swing and bebop eras. He was noted for his rich, almost operatic bass-baritone voice. In 2019, Eckstine was posthumously ...

. In 1950 he played in a quartet with

Vernon Alley Vernon Alley (May 26, 1915 – October 3, 2004) was an American jazz bassist. Early life Alley was born in Winnemucca, Nevada, and played football in high school and college. His brother, Eddie Alley, was a drummer; they played together ...

. From 1951 to 1952, he was with

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles M ...

and in 1952 he played with

Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though K ...

Neal Hefti Neal Paul Hefti (October 29, 1922 – October 11, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger. He wrote music for '' The Odd Couple'' movie and TV series and for the ''Batman'' TV series. He began arranging professionally in his ...

wrote the tune "Little Pony", named after Poindexter, for the

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

Orchestra. Through the end of the 1950s Poindexter played extensively both as a leader and as a sideman, recording with

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

T-Bone Walker Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker (May 28, 1910 – March 16, 1975) was an American blues musician, composer, songwriter and bandleader, who was a pioneer and innovator of the jump blues, West Coast blues, and electric blues sounds. In 2018 ''Roll ...

, and

Jimmy Witherspoon James Witherspoon (August 8, 1920 – September 18, 1997) was an American jump blues singer. Early life, family and education Witherspoon was born in Gurdon, Arkansas. His father was a railroad worker who sang in local choirs, and his mot ...

. In the early 1960s he began playing the soprano sax as well. He recorded with

Eric Dolphy Eric Allan Dolphy Jr. (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, bass clarinetist and flautist. On a few occasions, he also played the clarinet and piccolo. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gai ...

and

Dexter Gordon Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and actor. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians, which included other greats such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gi ...

on a session for

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

around 1962. From 1961 to 1964, he accompanied

Lambert, Hendricks & Ross Lambert, Hendricks & Ross were an American vocalese trio formed by jazz vocalists Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks and Annie Ross. From 1962 to 1964, Ross was replaced by vocalist Yolande Bavan. History The group formed in 1957 and recorded their f ...

. In 1963 he moved to Paris and recorded with

Annie Ross Annabelle McCauley Allan Short (25 July 193021 July 2020), known professionally as Annie Ross, was a British-American singer and actress, best known as a member of the jazz vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. Early life Ross was born in Surr ...

. For eight years he lived in Spain and then moved to

Mannheim, Germany Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

before returning to the U.S. He published a memoir, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘰𝘯𝘺 𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘪𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘑𝘢𝘻𝘻 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘯, in 1985.

Discography

* ''

Pony's Express ''Pony's Express'' is the debut album by saxophonist Pony Poindexter which was released on the Epic label in 1962.Fitzgerald, M.Pony Poindexter Leader Entryaccessed July 2, 2015 Reception Ken Dryden of Allmusic stated: "It's a shame that Pony Po ...

'' ( Epic, 1962) * ''

Pony Poindexter Plays the Big Ones ''Pony Poindexter Plays the Big Ones'' is an album by saxophonist Pony Poindexter which was released on the New Jazz label in 1963.

'' (New Jazz, 1963) * ''

Gumbo! ''Gumbo!'' is an album by saxophonists Pony Poindexter and Booker Ervin which was released on the Prestige label in 1963. The 1999 CD reissue added eight unreleased selections from earlier sessions, three led by Poindexter and five by Ervin. Re ...

'' (New Jazz, 1963) with Booker Ervin * ''Annie Ross & Pony Poindexter'' (

Saba Saba may refer to: Places * Saba (island), an island of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean Sea * Şaba (Romanian for Shabo), a town of the Odesa Oblast, Ukraine * Sabá, a municipality in the department of Colón, Honduras * Saba (river), ...

, 1966) * ''

Alto Summit ''Alto Summit'' is an album by saxophonists Lee Konitz, Pony Poindexter, Phil Woods and Leo Wright recorded in West Germany in 1968 and released on the MPS label. The album was released in the US on Prestige Records.MPS, 1968) * ''The Happy Life of Pony'' (Session, 1969) * ''Pony Poindexter En Barcelona'' (Spiral, 1972 re-issue Wah Wah Records 2000) * ''Poindexter'' (

Inner City The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...

, 1976) With

*'' Stella by Starlight'' (SteepleChase, 1966 005 With

Jon Hendricks John Carl Hendricks (September 16, 1921 – November 22, 2017), known professionally as Jon Hendricks, was an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and rep ...

* '' A Good Git-Together'' (Pacific, 1959) With

* ''The Hottest Group in Jazz'' ( Columbia, 1959–62) With

Wes Montgomery John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for an unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a dist ...

* ''Far Wes'' (

Pacific Jazz Pacific Jazz Records was a Los Angeles-based record company and label best known for cool jazz or West coast jazz. It was founded in 1952 by producer Richard Bock (1927–1988) and drummer Roy Harte (1924–2003). Harte, in 1954, also co-founded ...

, 1958–59)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poindexter, Pony 1926 births 1988 deaths American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists Prestige Records artists 20th-century American saxophonists Jazz musicians from Louisiana 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians