James Moody

From the closing years of the 1940s through the opening decade of the twenty-first century, James Moody remained a foundational presence in jazz, whether playing tenor saxophone, flute, the occasional alto, or yodeling his signature interpretation of “Moody’s Mood for Love.” After completing military service in the Air Force from 1943 to 1946, he entered Dizzy Gillespie’s bebop orchestra and began an enduring personal bond with the trumpeter. He traveled through Europe with Gillespie before settling abroad for an extended stretch, during which he worked with Miles Davis, Max Roach, and leading European musicians. A 1949 recording of “I’m in the Mood for Love” resurfaced as a hit in 1952 under the new title “Moody’s Mood for Love,” propelled by Eddie Jefferson’s classic vocalese lyrics and a commercially successful version by King Pleasure. Back in the United States, Moody organized a septet that remained active for five years, cut numerous sessions for Prestige and Argo, adopted the flute, and then served in Dizzy Gillespie’s quintet from 1963 to 1968. He spent much of the 1970s performing with Las Vegas show bands before reengaging with jazz, appearing from time to time alongside Gillespie while concentrating on his own projects and recording with Lionel Hampton’s Golden Men of Jazz. Moody, who moved between tenor—his instrument of choice—and alto across his entire career, produced an unmistakable sound on both horns and stood among jazz’s foremost flutists. As a leader he documented his work for an extensive list of labels that included Blue Note, Xanadu, Vogue, Prestige, EmArcy, Mercury, Argo, DJM, Milestone, Perception, MPS, Muse, Vanguard, and Novus. He died in San Diego, California, on December 9, 2010, at the age of eighty-five, from complications of pancreatic cancer.