Bob Brookmeyer©Bent Poulson

“Bob’s ingenuity, his ideas about minimizing materials and developing a sense for form, and the wonderful spirit and drama of his music opened a new world.”  --Maria Schneider

“Many times I feel like improvisation is a little self-centred, and a little more fun for the musicians than the audience. [Brookmeyer] was probably the most important person who basically said there doesn’t have to be improvisation, and if there is improvisation it has to come at the right moment and for the right reasons.” –John Holenback

Innovative composer, arranger, improviser, conductor, educator and trombonist Bob Brookmeyer died on December 15 in New London, NH at age 81. As a performer, Brookmeyer was known for his skills on the unusual valve trombone, but he made his most significant contributions to music by expanding the concepts of jazz composition, particularly for big bands, and bringing his ideas into the classroom where he taught and mentored some of today’s most innovative composers and bandleaders, including Maria Schneider, John Hollenback, and Darcy James Argue.

Bob Brookmeyer©Wolfgang Gonaus

While in Europe, Brookmeyer initiated what became the New Art Orchestra, and 18-piece ensemble which earned a Grammy nomination in 2005 for its ArtistShare project Spirit Music. Bob continued writing for the New Art Orchestra and mentoring young musicians at NEC until his death. He recorded over 30 albums as leader, including his final release from 2011, Standards, with the New Art Orchestra and vocalist Fay Classen. An NEA Jazz Master, he received four Grammy nominations over his career.

“I've loved Bob's compositions and arrangements and his playing since the moment I first heard his music in the '70s,” said composer Maria Schneider.  “It turned my life around.  Bob became a wonderful teacher, mentor and dear friend.  And he was enormously generous to those lucky enough to be his friend.”

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