After decades in obscurity, Jerry Jerome (in his mid-eighties) started to appear on releases by the Arbors label in the 1990s. A superior swing tenor, Jerome was always a sidemen and was never a big name, although other musicians recognized his talents. He spent a period of time studying medicine but knew early on that he wanted to be a musician and he played in dance bands (most notably with Harry Reser in 1935) during college vacations before quitting school altogether. Jerome made his recording debut with Reser in 1936, was with Glenn Miller's early unsuccessful band (1936-1937), gigged with Red Norvo for a short period in 1938, and then worked as a studio player. Jerome spent some time with Artie Shaw in 1938, and gained a bit of fame playing with Benny Goodman during November 1938 to July 1940, including appearing on many of Goodman's sextet sessions with Charlie Christian; he also recorded with Lionel Hampton. Jerome next returned to Artie Shaw until March 1941. From then on he became a full-time studio musician, working as musical director at NBC during 1942-1946, spending a couple years as the head of A&R work at the Apollo and Keystone labels, and worked as musical director for WPIX-TV in New York. Starting in the mid-'50s, Jerome had a very successful career as a writer of advertising jingles. When he retired from that job, he moved to Florida in the '80s and returned to playing jazz. Happily Jerome's improvising abilities and style were unchanged and even into his eighties, he was very much in his musical prime. He continued to play up until his death on November 17, 2001, with dates booked near his Sarasota home into December. In addition to his sideman appearances, Jerome recorded as a leader in a variety of settings including a jam session with Charlie Christian in 1939, an extensive mid-'40s trio set with Teddy Wilson, a Dixieland date in 1944 for Stinson, many numbers for Apollo in 1947, a late-'50s album for ABC-Paramount, and a full CD for Arbors in 1996 which was coupled with highlights of his earlier career. ~ Scott Yanow.
