Mort Herbert (June 30, 1925 – June 5, 1983) was an American jazz bassist and lawyer.

Life

Herbert was born Mort Pelovitz on June 30, 1925, in Somerville, New Jersey. Self-taught on bass, Herbert is best-remembered for his stint as a member of

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

's All-stars. Herbert served in the military from 1943 to 1946. After his discharge, he attended

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

(1949–1952). Herbert later began his professional musical career. He worked with

Marian McPartland Margaret Marian McPartland Order of the British Empire, OBE ( Turner;Hasson, Claire, . PhD Thesis. Retrieved 12 August 2008. 20 March 1918 – 20 August 2013), was an English and American jazz pianist, composer, and writer. She was the host of ...

Don Elliott Don Elliott Helfman (October 21, 1926 – June 5, 1984), known as Don Elliott, was an American jazz trumpeter, vibraphonist, vocalist, and mellophone player. Elliott recorded over 60 albums and 5,000 advertising jingles throughout his career. C ...

, the

Sauter-Finegan Orchestra The Sauter-Finegan Orchestra was an American swing jazz band popular in the 1950s. The orchestra was led by Eddie Sauter and Bill Finegan, who were both experienced big band arrangers. Sauter played mellophone, trumpet, and drums, and had attende ...

band, and Sol Yaged from 1955 to 1958, and other swing and mainstream players, often appearing at the

Metropole A metropole () is the homeland, central territory or the state exercising power over a colonial empire. From the 19th century, the English term ''metropole'' was mainly used in the scope of the British, Spanish, French, Dutch, Portugu ...

. Herbert toured the world with Armstrong during 1958 to 1961, appearing on a number of records and film sound tracks and mostly functioning as a supporting player. His contributions are thoroughly documented in ''All of Me: The Complete Discography of Louis Armstrong''. After leaving Armstrong and his All–Stars, Mort mostly worked as a lawyer, playing music only on a part-time basis (including with

Herb Ellis Mitchell Herbert Ellis (August 4, 1921 – March 28, 2010) was an American jazz guitarist. During the 1950s, he was in a trio with pianist Oscar Peterson. Biography Born in Farmersville, Texas, Ellis grew up on a farm. He was first exposed ...

). He led an album, ''Night People'', for Savoy in 1956. In 1959, Herbert, a Jew, apparently had difficulty obtaining a visa for Lebanon, to tour there with Armstrong.

Joe Glaser Joseph G. Glaser (December 17, 1896 – June 6, 1969) was an artist manager known for his involvement in the careers of jazz musicians, including Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday. Biography Glaser was the son of a Chicago family of Russian Jew ...

, Armstrong's agent denied the story. In 1979, Herbert defended Lionel Ray Williams for the murder of

Sal Mineo Salvatore Mineo Jr. (January 10, 1939 – February 12, 1976) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as John "Plato" Crawford in the drama film '' Rebel Without a Cause'' (1955), which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award ...

. Williams was found guilty and sentenced to 57 years.

Death

Herbert died on June 5, 1983, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, at the age of 57 from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

Discography

* ''Night People'' (1956) * ''The Great Summit'' (2001)

References

1925 births 1983 deaths American jazz double-bassists Lawyers from Somerset County, New Jersey 20th-century American lawyers Musicians from Somerville, New Jersey 20th-century American double-bassists {{US-jazz-musician-stub