A small group of students founded the MIT Jazz Society in the 1950s. Kresge Auditorium was built in 1955 to provide a venue for local musicians and students to jam and then present concerts. The MIT Jazz Society tried to get professional musicians to perform in Boston. Paul Padget was a student at MIT between 1955 and 1957. He wrote to The Technology Review to recall a memorable moment from that era. “The MIT Jazz Society had its biggest break when Stan Getz brought his quintet down to Storyville…we asked for Getz but were quickly turned away.” Stan was on his way up Mass. Ave. asked Charlie Bourgeois about the “acoustically perfect Kresge Auditorium” and he mentioned that he would love to play there someday. One phone call from Charlie to me, and we were off. We were able to reach everyone within four days of receiving notice. Because we had so little time and money, volunteers worked nights to create posters. The concert was a sell-out and the MIT Jazz Society was born. The MIT Techtonians were formed sometime in the late 50s and early 60s. The big band was led and performed at various campus functions. Klaus Leipmann was the Director of the MIT Music Section. He decided that professional leadership should be given to the ensemble. Leipmann approached Herb Pomeroy in 1963 to lead the Techtonians. Pomeroy was a well-known teacher, bandleader, soloist and musician. In a recent interview, he recalled his first encounter with the MIT Techtonians. “The band had just played their spring concert the night before so I assumed they would be in good shape. Their first piece was terrible. I heard it three minutes and made a decision to stay with them for twenty-two years. I felt a sense of integrity and drive in the students, and they appeared like very good young people. We started building with only one rehearsal per week. After about a year, the band remained as Techtonians. It was only then that it was decided to change its name to MIT Concert Jazz Band. The band started to improve and began playing in jazz festivals. Pomeroy decided to create a second group because of the growing interest in the band. Pomeroy asked Everett Longstreth to lead another group after he had just returned from Woody Herman’s band tour. Longstreth was a veteran of Pomeroy’s 1955 professional orchestra and was a highly skilled arranger. For nearly 30 years, he was the director of MIT Concert Jazz Band. Longstreth’s contributions to jazz bands at MIT were crucial. The second ensemble was a training group and performed fewer concerts per year. Pomeroy’s group was regularly attending collegiate jazz festivals, so it made sense for the Festival Jazz Ensemble to be named, while the Concert Jazz Band became the Concert Jazz Band. The MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble participated regularly in prestigious collegiate jazz festivals like the Villanova Jazz Festival or the Nortre Dame Jazz Festival, which began in 1959. The Festival Jazz Ensemble received the greatest musical legacy and tradition from Herb Pomeroy by consistently being recognized for its musicianship, innovative programming and was regularly awarded. He was able to connect with an incredible number of professional and student jazz composers through his Berklee College of Music teaching position. Pomeroy encouraged many of these professional colleagues and students to compose for Festival Jazz Ensemble. The band developed a distinctive voice and a reputation for being an innovative force. The Festival Jazz Ensemble’s students also started a tradition of writing for the band. The idea of performing original music specifically for the ensemble fits in with Pomeroy’s Ellington-influenced philosophy that “brings out individual personalities” within a larger ensemble. Some of the most notable writers of the band in Pomeroy’s time include Greg Hopkins, Hal Crook and John La Porta. Mike Hughes, Jackson Stock and Tiger Okoshi were also among them. Sharifi, a former student of the ensemble, became the second director after Pomeroy retired from MIT in 1985. Pomeroy was also a pioneer in innovative programming and participated in outstanding collegiate jazz festivals. He also hosted invitational jazz festivals at the Institute. These festivals were usually held at New England or Boston-area colleges. A two-day festival was held in May 1968. It was adjudicated and managed by Robert Share, George Wein, and Pomeroy. The Gary Burton Quartet performed at the event. Pomeroy encouraged local bands to share concert programs. In March 1978, Pomeroy invited both MIT jazz ensembles to perform. He also directed the Harvard University Jazz Band, which was directed by Tom Everett. The concert featured the University of Lowell Studio Orchestra that was directed by Nat Paella. The Montreux Jazz Festival invitation in 1970 was one of the most prestigious honors that the Festival Jazz Ensemble received under Herb Pomeroy’s direction. Along with Kent State University in Texas and North Texas State University in the USA, the Festival Jazz Ensemble were the first big college bands to attend this festival. When you consider the size of the formal jazz programs at North Texas State University and Kent State, MIT’s participation in this prestigious event is a remarkable tribute to Pomeroy’s incredible musical and personal leadership. Many MIT alums returned to honor Herb Pomeroy’s achievements in 1983, which marked the 20th anniversary of the establishment of jazz ensembles. Jamshied Sharifi was a graduate of both MIT as well as the Berklee College of Music and became the Festival Jazz Ensemble’s second director in 1985. Sharifi was a highly skilled composer and arranger. He contributed a lot of his music to the FJE Library, starting as a student in the ensemble while Pomeroy was still the director. Sharifi left the band in 1992. In addition to his work as an arranger and composer, Sharifi was also a great performer with the ensemble at jazz festivals. He received honors from Boston University and Nortre Dame. In 1990, Sharifi started a recording project, which produced two acclaimed CDs: “MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble” and “Go On”, respectively. These two CDs feature music from Herb Pomeroy’s FJE era and Sharifi’s original compositions. James O’Dell was appointed third director of MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble in the autumn of 1992. O’Dell was previously the Director of Bands at Boston University. He initiated the university’s first formal Jazz program. This included a collegiate jazz festival, which the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble participated in often. O’Dell was 30 years old when the jazz program at MIT was founded in the spring of his first year. Pomeroy, Sharifi were both invited back to a special evening with collaborative music-making. O’Dell continued FJE tradition of festival participation, and the creation new music. The MIT hosted his New England Collegiate Festival at Boston University. Herb Pomeroy adjudicates these festivals, which often featured performances by exceptional jazz musicians such as Terence Blanchard and Phil Woods. O’Dell’s association with the Boston Jazz Composers Alliance allowed him to continue to improve the FJE by introducing new works by professional composers and students from Berklee as well as MIT. Small group jazz was a key component of the MIT jazz program during the tenures Sharifi, Pomeroy and O’Dell. Each director encouraged formation of jazz groups, often led by students. Their successor continued this tradition. Fred Harris was appointed fourth director of MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble in the autumn of 1999. The FJE continues to collaborate with visiting artists and MIT ensembles, as well as recording and commissioning new music. Recent guests include Joe Lovano and Steve Turre, Don Byron and Kenny Werner, as well as Magali Souriau, Magali Souriau, Magali Souriau, Ran Blake, Don Byron and Kenny Werner. The FJE celebrated Herb Pomeroy’s 70th birthday in 2000 with a concert and series of events. In 2003, the FJE hosted an alumni concert to celebrate the 40th anniversary of MIT’s founding of jazz ensembles. from http://web.mit.edu/fje/www
