Career
Pointer made his solo debut at the age of 13, performing Vivaldi with the Symphony of the New World, followed by guest solo appearances with the Chicago Chamber Orchestra and Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He began playing jazz on the violin while a student at New York City"s High School of Music and Artist While attending college at Manhattan School of Music, Pointer earned a reputation as a New York session musician.
By age 19, his experience as a free-lance musician had included steady work in the Apollo Theater Orchestra, the Unlimited Orchestra, the Westbury Music Fair Orchestra, the Radio City Music Hall Symphony, the Love Unlimited Orchestra (United States Tour), The Dance Theater of Harlem Orchestra, the Symphony of the New World, and the pit orchestras of several Broadway shows, including Guys and Dolls and Dreamgirls.
He also was the guest soloist on Milira"s Mercy, Mercy, Maine (The Ecology) and Dianne Reeves" The Tracks of My Tears. His albums All My Reasons (1981) and Direct Hit (1982) were nominated for Grammy Awards.
He also wrote music for a number of dance groups, including the Joyce Trisler Danscompany and the Inner City Ensemble Theater and Dance Company. Pointer"s reputation as an outstanding jazz musician and literary advocate garnered him honorary citizenship in cities across the United States.
He served as a music advisory panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts (National Education Association) and the United States Information Agency (United States Information Agency), among the youngest people to have held those positions.
In 1992 he founded the National Movement for the Preservation of the Sacred African Burial Grounds of New York City. He resurfaced in 1993 on Never Lose Your Heart, which turned out to be his final album. He died of a stroke on December 19, 1994, at age 39.