Henry Jerome

Henry Jerome (né Henry Jerome Pasnik; November 12, 1917 in New York City – March 23, 2011 in Plantation, Florida) was an American big band leader, trumpeter, arranger, composer, and record company executive. Jerome formed his first dance band in 1932 in Norwich, Connecticut. His bands flourished throughout the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s. Jerome went on to become A&R director at Decca Records in 1959 and A&R director for Coral Records, a Decca subsidiary, in the late 1960s.

Jerome attended primary and secondary schools in Norwich, public for the former and Norwich Free Academy for the latter. He also attended the Juilliard School of Music, studying trumpet with Max Schlossberg (1873–1936) and composition and orchestration with William Vacchiano.

Early days

Jerome formed his first professional orchestra while in the eighth grade — in 1931, when he was 14.

First passenger ship

While in high school Jerome received an offer from the American Export Lines 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.

1932 to 1937

In addition to performing aboard passenger ships, 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.

Dinner at the Green Room

On February 28, 1948, Henry Jerome and His Orchestra were booked at the Green Room of the Hotel Edison, in New York, to fill a 9-day gap between Claudia Carroll's closing and Alvy West–Buddy Greco's opening on March 26. From then on, Henry Jerome and His Orchestra performed regularly there. In 1952, ABC Radio Network began broadcasting the show, weekly, calling it, Dinner At The Green Room. Songs such as "Homing Pigeon", "I Love My Mama", "Nice People", "Night Is Gone", "Until Six", and "Oh, How I Need You, Joe" became staples of East Coast airwaves. According to a review in the December 11, 1948, issue of Billboard, Jerome had perfected the style of Hal Kemp, a more mellow, soft, and sweet style that suited many hotels. The Billboard reporter, Hal Webman (1923–2004), went on to become an A&R executive with Jerome's future employer, Decca.

Executive roles in recording

Jerome was A&R director at Coral Records, Decca Records, and MCA Records from 1959 to 1968. He became A&R director of United Artists Records from 1968 to 1970. In 1971, he became president of Green Menu Music Factory, collaborating with Kim Gannon, Leonard Whitcup, Bobbi Martin, Norman Simon, Angelo Musulino.

Music

Lyrics

Instrumental works

Henry Jerome used two pseudonyms: Van Grayson and Al Mortimer, both published as co-composer as a way of getting a royalty cut for musicians that he put on salary.

Notable songs that credit Al Mortimer

• "For the Love of Him"
• "Lonesome Tears in My Eyes"

• Alan Greenspan (1944)
• Leonard Garment
• Clyde Reasinger (1960)
• Joe Harnell (1944)

• Economist’s Life, Scored With Jazz Theme, by David Leonhardt, New York Times, September 18, 2007
• ^ Interview: Johnny Mandel (Part 2), by Marc Myers, JazzWax October 21, 2008
• Henry Jerome (biography), by Eugene Chadbourne, AllMusic, retrieved 20 May 2013
• Counterpoint: The Journey of a Music Man, by Joe Harnell & Ira Skutch, Xlibris Corp. (publisher) (2000) OCLC 47724607

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 did the arrangements. Some music historians attribute Jerome's inspiration for Brazen Brass to Billy May's Big Fat Brass album that won a 1959 Grammy, for Best Performance by an Orchestra or Instrumentalist with Orchestra.

• Brazen Brass, Decca DL 4056 & 74056 (1957) OCLC 14216233
• Brazen Brass Plays Songs Everybody Knows, Decca DL 4106 & 74106 (1961) OCLC 13036833
• Brazen Brass Goes Hollywood, Decca DL 4085 & 74085 (1961) OCLC 13031099
• Brazen Brass Brings Back the Bands! Decca DL 4125 & 74125 (1961) OCLC 12261131
• Brazen Brass Features Saxes, Decca DL 4127 & 74127 (1961) OCLC 15548677
• Brazen brass Zings the Strings, Decca DL 4187 & 74187 (1961) OCLC 13030901
• Brazen Brass Goes Latin, Decca DL 4226 & 74226 (1961) OCLC 24624512
• Brazen Brass: New sounds in Folk Music, Decca DL 4344 & 74344 (1961) OCLC 761582619, 657589374
• Brazen Brass: Strings in Dixieland, Decca DL 4307 & 74307 (1961) OCLC 657589375, 761582621
• Brazen Brass Legends of Lounge, Decca (1961)
• Cocktail Brazen Brass, Brunswick (1965)
• Brazen Brass Hi-Lites, Decca SDL 3001

• Billy May, Space Age Pop Music (music blog) Brussels, Belgium: www.spaceagepop.com, Brad Bigelow, editor (retrieved 21 May 2013)

Henry Jerome and His Orchestra

Treasury Varieties

• Jerome became a member of ASCAP in 1951.