Valery Ponomarev is a Russian born jazz trumpeter. He has lived in the United States since 1973. He became interested in jazz after hearing it on Voice of America and felt a particular affinity for Clifford Brown. In time he decided to flee the then Soviet Union and ended up joining Art Blakey's "The Jazz Messengers." After leaving he formed his own band "Universal Language." On September 9 2006, his arm was broken in an altercation with security at Charles De Gaulle International Airport. The altercation involved his intention of carrying his trumpet with him onto the plane. External links · [LINK: http://www.marsjazz.com/valerypbio.html] Mars Jazz · [LINK: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/iviews/vponomarev.htm?no_auto=1] All About Jazz · [LINK: http://jazztimes.com/columns_and_features/news/detail.cfm?article=10904] Jazz times on the recent i