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James Moody (saxophonist)

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James Moody
Moody with Todd Coolman at a jazz festival
Moody with Todd Coolman at a jazz festival
Background information
Born(1925-03-26)March 26, 1925
Savannah, Georgia, U.S.
DiedDecember 9, 2010(2010-12-09) (aged 85)
San Diego, California, U.S.
GenresJazz
OccupationMusician
Instrument(s)Saxophone, flute
Years active1947–2010
LabelsNovus, Prestige
Websitewww.jamesmoody.com

James Moody (March 26, 1925[1] – December 9, 2010)[2] was an American jazz saxophone and flute player and very occasional vocalist, playing predominantly in the bebop and hard bop styles. The annual James Moody Jazz Festival is held in Newark, New Jersey.

Moody had an unexpected hit with "Moody's Mood for Love", a 1952 song written by Eddie Jefferson, which used as its melody an improvised solo that Moody had played on a 1949 recording of "I'm in the Mood for Love". Moody adopted the song as his own, recording it with Jefferson on his 1956 album Moody's Mood for Love and performing the song regularly in concert, often singing the vocals himself.

Early life

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James Moody was born in Savannah, Georgia, United States,[1] and was raised by his single mother, Ruby Hann Moody Watters.[3] According to one reference, his absent father was a trumpeter in Tiny Bradshaw`s group.[4] He had a brother, Louis Edward Watters.[5] Growing up in Newark, New Jersey,[6] he was attracted to the saxophone after hearing Lester Young, "Buddy" George Holmes Tate, Don Byas, and various saxophonists who played with Count Basie. When Moody was 16 years old, his uncle, Louis, bought him his first saxophone, an alto. His first playing model was Jimmy Dorsey, followed by Charlie Barnet and George Auld, but early on he was self-taught, playing by ear and learning mostly from listening to records.[7]

Career

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Moody joined the US Army Air Corps in 1943 and played in the "negro band" at the segregated Greensboro Training Center.[8][9] According to Moody,

And then I was drafted into the Air Force. And they said, "Does anyone here play an instrument? No - they said, "Does anyone here have an instrument?" And I said, "Yeah, I've got one." They said, "Send for it." They didn`t ask if you could play it, they just said if you had it. I said yeah. So I sent for the instrument and they formed a band...And they had the official Air Force Band come over and teach the Negro band. And after about a year or so, man, our band was really nice, it sounded good. So they would come over and listen to our band. And I made some good friends with some of the guys... [7]

Following his discharge from the military in 1946, he played bebop with Dizzy Gillespie[2] for two years. Moody later played with Gillespie in 1964, where his colleagues in the Gillespie group, pianist Kenny Barron and guitarist Les Spann, would be musical collaborators in the coming decades.

In 1948, Moody recorded for Blue Note, his first session in a long recording career playing both saxophone and flute. That same year, he relocated to Europe, where he stayed for three years, saying he had been "scarred by racism" in the U.S.[9] His European work, including the first recording of "Moody's Mood for Love", which became a hit in 1952,[10] saw him add the alto saxophone to his repertoire and helped to establish him as recording artist in his own right, and formed part of the growth of European jazz. Then in 1952, he returned to the U.S. to a recording career with Prestige Records and others, playing flute and saxophone in bands that included musicians such as Pee Wee Moore and others.

Even up to recording "Moody's Mood for Love", Moody was still an ear player. It was not until he returned to the U.S. and toured with The Brook Benton Revue (with The James Moody Orchestra) that he became acquainted with music theory, crediting Tom McIntosh with explaining to him chord changes.[7]

Moody and his Orchestra performed for the eleventh famed Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, which was produced by Leon Hefflin, Sr on July 24, 1955, and also featured Big Jay McNeely, Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra, The Medallions and The Penguins.[11]

In the 1960s, Moody rejoined Dizzy Gillespie and later also worked with Mike Longo.[12]

From 1974 into the 1980s, Moody found steady work playing in Las Vegas show bands. He was part of the Gene Harris-led Phillip Morris Super Band which toured the world during the late 1980s and early 1990s.[13]

In 1997, Moody appeared as William Glover, a law-firm porter, in Clint Eastwood's movie adaptation of John Berendt's novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.[2][14] He walked Patrick, an invisible dog, in the movie. During the dog's lifetime, Glover was paid $10 by its owner, attorney John Bouhan,[15] to walk Patrick. After the death of both Bouhan and his dog, a judge agreed that Glover should continue to receive $10 for walking Patrick.[16]

In a 1998 interview with Bob Bernotas, Moody stated that he believed jazz has definite spiritual resonance.[12]

The James Moody Quartet (with pianist Renee Rosnes, bassist Todd Coolman, and drummer Adam Nussbaum) was Moody's vehicle later in his career. Moody played regularly with Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars and the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band and also often collaborated with former Gillespie alumnus, the trumpeter-composer-conductor Jon Faddis; Faddis and Moody worked in 2007 with the WDR Big Band in Cologne, Germany under the direction of Michael Abene. And along with Faddis, toured in 1986 with the Philip Morris Superband hosting artists like Hammond organist Jimmy Smith, Kenny Burrell, Grady Tate and Barbara Morrison. Included in this line-up were Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Jimmy Heath, Kenny Washington, Slide Hampton and Monty Alexander on a four-country, 14-city one-month tour of 18 concerts, notably in Australia, Canada, Japan and the Philippines, starting on September 3, 1986, with its first concert in Perth, Australia. The Philip Morris Superband concept started a year previous in 1985.

Awards and honors

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Two months after Moody's death, his album Moody 4B (2010) won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album.

The New Jersey Performing Arts Center hosts the James Moody Jazz Festival.[17][18]

Personal life

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Moody was married three times; the first two marriages ended in divorce. His third marriage was to the former Linda Petersen McGowan, whom he married in 1989. He had a daughter and, through Linda, three step-sons.[5] Moody and his wife resided in San Diego, California.

Moody suffered from alcoholism and accompanying mental-health issues during part of his career. In April 1958, with the help of his mother, Moody checked into Overbrook Asylum and was treated until his discharge in September of that year.[19]

He was an active member of the Baháʼí Faith.[12] He investigated and took up the faith after his friend Dizzy Gillespie died. For a time, Moody held belief in the ancient astronaut theory detailed in Zecharia Sitchin's book The 12th Planet, sometimes advocating it to listeners at live events.[7]

In 2005, the Moodys established the Moody Scholarship Fund[20] at the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College-State University of New York (SUNY Purchase). Moody was awarded an NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship in 1998 and often participated in educational programming and outreach, including with the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE).

Moody was fluent in Italian.[citation needed]

Death

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On November 2, 2010, Moody's wife announced on his behalf that he had pancreatic cancer, and had chosen not to have it treated aggressively. After palliative care, Moody died in San Diego, on December 9, 2010, from complications resulting from the cancer.[2]

Discography

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As leader

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As sideman

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With Art Farmer

With Gil Fuller

With Dizzy Gillespie

With The Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars

  • Dizzy's World directed by Jon Faddis (Shanachie, 1999)
  • Things to Come (Telarc, 2001)

With The Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band

  • Dizzy's Business (MCG Jazz, 2006)
  • I'm Be Boppin' Too (Half Note, 2009)

With Dexter Gordon

With Milt Jackson

With Elvin Jones

With Quincy Jones

With Charles Mingus

With Max Roach

  • New Sounds: Max Roach Quintet/Art Blakey's Band (Blue Note, 1952)

With Lalo Schifrin

With Bobby Timmons

With Cedar Walton

With Tubby Hayes

  • Return Visit! (Fontana, 1962) Credited as "Jimmy Gloomy"

With Roberta Gambarini

  • Easy To Love (Groovin' High/Kindred Rhythm, 2006) Moody plays tenor sax and sings with Roberta on "Lover Man" and "Centerpiece".
  • So In Love (Groovin' High/EmArcy/UMe, 2009)

References

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  1. ^ a b Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. pp. 1739/40. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  2. ^ a b c d Varga, George (December 9, 2010). "A jazz giant passes: James Moody, 1925-2010". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on May 23, 2014.
  3. ^ "James Moody obituary". The Guardian. December 10, 2010.
  4. ^ Iwanami, Youzou (July 1997) [Recorded 1956 to 1957]. Moody's Mood for Love (Liner notes) (in Japanese). Moody, James. Chicago: MCA Records Inc. p. 2. MCVJ-19012 Argo 613.
  5. ^ a b Keepnews, Peter (December 10, 2010). "James Moody, Jazz Saxophonist, Dies at 85". The New York Times.
  6. ^ "The State of Jazz: Meet 40 More Jersey Greats". The Star-Ledger. September 28, 2003. Archived from the original on September 27, 2008. "James Moody -- Moody, the remarkable San Diego, Calif.-based saxophonist, flutist and vocalist, was raised in Newark, and did a good deal of early playing there
  7. ^ a b c d Moody, James; Rowe, Monk. "James Moody interviewed by Monk Rowe, San Diego, California, February 13, 1998". Hamilton College Library Digital Collections. Hamilton College Fillius Jazz Archive. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  8. ^ James Moody Biography, musicianguide.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  9. ^ a b Ambrose, Patrick (February 14, 2007). "Moody's Mood for Bop". The Morning News. Archived from the original on June 12, 2011.
  10. ^ AllMusic biography by Scott Yanow
  11. ^ “11th Cavalcade of Jazz – Wrigley Field July 24” Article Los Angeles Sentinel June 30, 1955.
  12. ^ a b c Bernotas, Bob (1999). "Interview with James Moody". Melmartin.com. Archived from the original on January 7, 2007.
  13. ^ Iwanami, Youzou (July 1997) [Recorded 1956 to 1957]. Moody's Mood for Love (Liner notes) (in Japanese). Moody, James. Chicago: MCA Records Inc. p. 2. MCVJ-19012 Argo 613.
  14. ^ James Moody - National Endowment for the Arts
  15. ^ "History". Bouhan Falligant. November 1, 2018. Retrieved March 28, 2025.
  16. ^ Payne, Benjamin (January 17, 2024). "'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil' turns 30: How the book left a lasting mark on Savannah". Georgia Public Broadcasting. Retrieved March 28, 2025.
  17. ^ "TD Moody Democracy of Jazz Festival". NJPAC. Archived from the original on September 13, 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  18. ^ La Groce, Tammy (October 5, 2012). "A Week of Jazz and Remembrance". The New York Times.
  19. ^ Usher, Dave; Brown, Frank London (September 1958). Last Train From Overbrook (Liner notes). Moody, James. Chicago: Argo Record Corp. Argo LP 637-S.
  20. ^ "The James Moody Scholarship at Purchase College". Purchase College-State University of New York. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011.
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