James Moody (saxophonist)
| James Moody | |
|---|---|
James Moody with Todd Coolman at a jazz festival
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| Background information | |
| Born |
March 26, 1925 Savannah, Georgia, U.S. |
| Died | December 9, 2010 (aged 85) San Diego, California |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Saxophone, flute |
| Years active | 1947–2010 |
| Labels | Novus, Prestige |
| Associated acts | Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Barron, Jon Faddis, Eddie Jefferson, Johnny Coles, Todd Coolman, Rufus Reid, Gil Fuller, Milt Jackson |
| Website | www |
James Moody (March 26, 1925 – December 9, 2010) was an American jazz saxophone and flute player and occasional vocalist, playing predominantly in the bebop and hard bop styles.
Moody had an unexpected hit with "Moody's Mood for Love," a 1952 song written by Eddie Jefferson that 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.
James Moody was born in Savannah, Georgia, and was raised by his (single) mother, Ruby Hann Moody Watters. He had a brother, Louis. Growing up in New Jersey, he was attracted to the saxophone after hearing George Holmes Tate, Don Byas, and various saxophonists who played with Count Basie, and later also took up the flute.
Moody joined the US Army Air Corps in 1943 and played in the "negro band" on the segregated base. Following his discharge from the military in 1946 he played bebop with Dizzy Gillespie 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 he recorded his first session for Blue Note Records, the first 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. His European work, including the first recording of "Moody's Mood for Love", which became a hit in 1952, 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. In the 1960s, he rejoined Dizzy Gillespie. He later worked also with Mike Longo.
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