Jimmy Ponder

Throughout a lengthy career that encompassed more than eighty sideman appearances and fifteen leader dates, Jimmy Ponder established himself as a guitarist whose soulful tone could energize any funky jazz session. He first picked up the instrument at fourteen and has long cited Wes Montgomery and Kenny Burrell as his principal early influences, with Montgomery continuing to shape his approach in subsequent years. After only three years of playing, he received an invitation to join Charles Earland’s band; Ponder deferred the offer until finishing high school, then remained with the organist for three years and participated in several of Earland’s recordings. Additional work and sessions followed with Lou Donaldson, Houston Person, Donald Byrd, Stanley Turrentine, and Jimmy McGriff before he left Philadelphia for New York in the early 1970s, where he began leading his own groups. Subsequent leader recordings appeared on Cadet, ABC/Impulse, TK, CBS, and Toshiba in the 1970s, on Milestone in the 1980s, and on Muse and HighNote in the 1990s. In the twenty-first century his releases included Ain’t Misbehavin’ (2000), Thumbs Up (2001), Alone (2003), What’s New (2005), and both Somebody’s Child and Solo: Live at the Other Side, issued in 2007.