Valery Ponomarev, Russian: Вале́рий Миха́йлович Пономарёв, Valery Mikhaylovich Ponomaryov, (born 1943) is a Russian born jazz trumpeter. He has lived in the United States since 1973.

Ponomarev became interested in jazz after hearing it on Voice of America and felt a particular affinity for Clifford Brown. He dedicated countless hours to transcribing, studying and memorizing legendary jazz trumpet solos. 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."