Jimmy Howard Reynolds arranger

John (Jimmy) McCormack Reynolds grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana, and received degrees in music from Louisiana State University and the University of Michigan. After teaching in public schools in Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana, he served as director of bands at Peabody/Vanderbilt University, director of bands and head of the Department of Music at Louisiana Tech University and director of bands at Iowa State University. From 1980 to 1985 he was director of youth music for the Municipality of Jerusalem, resident conductor of the Israel National Youth Band, and music consultant for The Rothschild Foundation, Israel. He also taught courses in music education at Tel Aviv University and the Reuben Academy of Jerusalem. Reynolds was a past president of the Southern Division of the College Band Directors National Association and member of many other national and regional band associations. He served honorably in the United States Navy as a lieutenant, junior grade.

As a lifelong educator spending much of the 1950’s and 60’s in the Deep South, he held a firm belief in the work of the civil rights movement, often taking stands that put him at odds with the political and social climate of the times.