Jimmy Ponder


Jimmy Ponder was an American jazz guitarist.

Career

When Ponder's brother entered the military, he left his guitar, and Ponder picked it up. In his early teens he received lessons from the guitarist in a band for which he sang doo-wop. He was drawn to the jazz guitar he heard on the radio. While playing in a rhythm and blues band, he occasionally inserted a jazz solo. He considers hearing guitarist Thornel Schwartz an important part of his life, when Schwartz was playing with organist Jimmy McGriff. He was impressed by Pat Martino when he saw Martino in the Jack McDuff band. He also cites as influences George Benson, Kenny Burrell, and Rene Thomas, though none surpassed the impact of seeing Wes Montgomery.
He learned the guitar solo from "Daily Double", the only 45 rpm single released by Charles Earland. When Earland performed in Pittsburgh, he invited Ponder to sit-in with the band and liked what he heard. Earland promised Ponder he could become a member of the band after he finished high school. Six months after graduating, he was hired by Earland.
He began playing with Earland at 17 and in the following years with Lou Donaldson, Houston Person, Donald Byrd, Stanley Turrentine, and Jimmy McGriff. He moved to Philadelphia and later New York City in the 1970s and recorded extensively as a leader. Since the late 1980s, he frequently returned to his hometown to perform with his trio of two other Pittsburgh musicians, Gene Ludwig and Roger Humphries. Ponder's highest charting release was Somebody's Child, which reached No. 3 on the JazzWeek airplay chart in 2007.
Ponder died in Pittsburgh at the age of 67 in September 2013.
On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Jimmy Ponder among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.

Discography

As leader

With Hank Crawford and Jimmy McGriff
With Lou Donaldson
With Charles Earland
With Richard Groove Holmes
With Etta Jones
  • Ms. Jones to You
  • My Mother's Eyes
With Jimmy McGriff
  • The Main Squeeze
  • Stump Juice
  • Tailgunner
  • City Lights
  • Movin' Upside the Blues
  • Skywalk
With Houston Person
  • Stolen Sweets
  • Wild Flower
With others