Means of Identification is an album by trumpeter Valery Ponomarev which was recorded in 1985 and released on the Reservoir label in 1987.

[1] In his review on AllMusic, Scott Yanow states "The Reservoir label debuted with this excellent effort from trumpeter Valery Ponomarev, who was making his first recording as a leader.

Five years earlier he had ended a nearly four-year stay with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, and although he never seems to receive the fame he deserved, Ponomarev since then has been one of the top Clifford Brown-inspired hard bop trumpeters around ... the music should please hard bop collectors".

[2] All compositions by Valery Ponomarev except where noted.