Harry E. Spencer Jr., veteran Wilmington jazzman and teacher, dies at 78

Veteran Wilmington jazz saxophonist Harry E. Spencer Jr., who taught for more than two decades at The Grand and was artistic director at the city's Nomad Bar, died Saturday at the age of 78.

Spencer was in hospice care at the time of his death, but family declined to disclose the cause.

A viewing will be held Friday from 10 to 11 a.m. at House of Wright Mortuary, 208 E. 35th St., Wilmington.

The Wilmington-born horn player grew up in Harlem after his parents moved north, becoming a working musician, playing in Greenwich Village and touring Europe with acts such a jazz fusion bandleader Sun Ra.

During summers in Delaware, he studied with First State jazz educator and bandleader Robert “Boysie” Lowery, who also schooled late Wilmington trumpeter Clifford Brown.

Spencer moved back to Delaware in the '80s to care for his aging mother and eventually re-started his music career, performing on the same bill as Dizzy Gillespie at one of the first editions of the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival.

Spencer then signed on as a teacher at The Grand in 2004. First known as the Grand Music School, Spencer taught for nearly 15 years at The Arts Academy, as it's now known, growing into the program's elder statesman

He split his time later in life between teaching and performing, being named artistic director of Nomad Bar when the off-the-beaten-path jazz club first opened on Orange Street in 2011.

When it came time for owner Dave Vandever to hire someone for that job, he knew who to turn to: the same man who had been giving him lessons.

"He was the spark for the whole idea of what Nomad has become. He really set the mood and tone," says Vandever, who handed over booking duties to Spencer before the two became close friends. "He was a very giving and spiritual person. He lived and expressed himself through his actions and his music."

A special jazz jam in honor of Spencer will he held at Nomad on June 9 from 4 to 7 p.m., led by Delaware trumpeter "Big Cat" Tony Smith. Details have not yet been announced for Spencer's annual post jazz festival party at Nomad, still slated for June 22 at 9 p.m.  

While Spencer made his mark on stage, his lasting legacy might be found off stage at The Grand where he began teaching 14 years ago, says theater executive director Mark Fields, who joined the staff two years later.

In fact, Fields' daughter took saxophone lessons from Spencer, who even invited the 13-year-old to perform at one of his local gigs, which Spencer would often do with students.

"And even though she only took lessons for a year, every time I saw him, he would ask, 'How's my girl doing?'" Fields remembers. "That tells you a lot about how he was — he made connections with people and stayed interested in them even when they weren't students anymore."

If your only experience with a jazz music teacher comes from the 2014 film "Whiplash," where actor J. K. Simmons plays a ruthless instructor, you can delete that image from your mind when it comes to Spencer.

"He was as far off from that guy on the continuum as you could imagine," Fields adds. 

His fatherly love and advice still frame the time he had with his four children, Vincent, Nicole, Harry and Kendra.

"He might have been a musician to everyone else, but to me he was just dad, my superhero," Kendra Spencer says. "Any time I needed him, he was there for me."

Spencer spoke of his love of music in The News Journal when Fields interviewed him for a column last year.

“Music is spiritual to me because it has a poetry to it," Spencer said at the time. "It’s an opportunity to express your real self. There’s good music, and then there’s art, taking it to another level. You have to know your instrument and your craft very well to create art.”

After the viewing Friday at House of Wright Mortuary at 10 a.m., family and friends will gather at Nomad Bar (905 N. Orange St.) from noon to 3 p.m.

Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).