GeneLeesG€rE Lrc Ad LibitumLibitwm Ge" JazzletterIazzletter PO Box 240,240, OjaiO)aiCA93024-0240CA 93024-0240 October 2005 Vol. 23 No 10 Lester Young. But when I got there, it was Don Byas, instead A Moody Afternoon of Lester. And Buddy Tate was there.there' As I Ieamedlearned more, I grew to understand that Don Byas was playing his butt off.”off"' years was the ReflectionsReflections on DizzyDiz4y One of his close friends in the Newark years was the trumpeter, and later composer and educator, David Burns.Burns' into the air force," Moody said' "I Of all the musicians ininDizzyDizzy Gillespie’sGillespie's life —- and the list of “Then"Then I was drafted into the air force,” Moody said. “I playing music. I went to those he discovered and nurtured and mentored is intermina- didn’tdidn't know I was going to be playing music. I went to and was segregated' Three ble ~ the longest association was that with saxophonist James Greensboro, North Carolina, and it was segregated. Three - one quarter was Moody. Probably the second longest was that with pianist quarters of the base was Caucasian and one quarter was a Negro band. They Mike Longo. The three of them were devoted friends. Negro. They said they wanted to have a Negro band. They They said, Moody firstfirst worked forfot Dizzy in 1946, and their associa- said, ‘Has'Has anybody got a horn?hom? I said I had one. They said, I could play it. So I sent for tion continued until Dizzy’sDizzy'sdeathdeath on JanuaryJantary 6,6,1993.1993. He was ‘Send'Send for it.’it.' They didn’tdidn't ask ifIif could play it. So I sent for started playing. in the hospital room whenwhenDizzyDizzy drew his last painful breath.breath' the homhorn and that’sthat's how I really started playing. Moody is too often taken for granted. He has been such a “Dave"Dave Burns was in the band. American, an presence for so long, so reliable a performer, that it is too “I"I was eighteen years old and a so-called American, an The German prisoners of easily overlooked that his best work is brilliant. Mike Longo American Air Force serviceman. The German prisoners of military police on the truck' says he is “a"a stone genius of the blues, and my dearest friend war would come in with the military police on the truck. backs' And they in life. In fact he’she's my brother. I learned so much just from They would have P.O.W. printed on their backs. And they I couldn't go in and eat' playing with him and hanging out with him. He’sHe's been a big would go into the restaurants to eat. I couldn’t go in and eat. how great this country is influenceinfluence on me musically. Just comping behind him I learned “So"So when I stop and think how great this country is done, it makes you so much.”much." supposed to be, and things that they’vethey've done, it makes you Moody was born in Savannah, Georgia, on March 26, say,say,'Well?'‘Well?’ 'The Big Top'' It 1925,1925,buthebut he grew up in Reading, Pennsylvania, andandNewark,Newark, “There"There was a place on the base called ‘The Big Top.’ It play with his big band' N.J. An uncle gave him his firstfirst saxophone, an alto, when he was a big tent, andandDizzyDizzy came to play with his big band. maybe three more months, was sixteen, but he soon took up the tenor. He served in the That’sThat's when I met him. We had maybe three more months, So Diz said that he U.S. Army AirAirCorpsCorps from 1943 tota 1946,1946,playingplaying in aamilitarymilitary and then we were going to be discharged.discharged' So Diz said that he he got back to New York and get band. was going to disband when he got back to New York and get come try out for the His firstfirst influenceinfluence on saxophone was Jimmy Dorsey, then another band. He said, ‘If'If you want, come try out for the did, Dave Burns and myself'" Charlie Barnett or, as he put it, “anybody"anybody that had a horn, band.’band.' And so that’sthat's what we did, Dave Burns and myself.” passed because, you know, IjustI just wanted to play saxophone.saxophone' IjustI just Both of them passed muster. on 52nd Street' Thelonious liked the way it looked. And around the corner fromfromwherewhere we “I"I joined Dizzy at the Spotlight on 52"" Street. Thelonious was the drummer, lived, in Newark, there was a music store called DomDorn and Monk was the piano player, Kenny Clarke was the drummer, vibes' We had a Kirchner, where I saw all the saxophones in the window when Ray Brown, bass, and Milt Jackson, vibes. We had a Cecil Payne, baritone, Ernie Il was little, and also, on First Street, there were two theaters seventeen-piece band. We had Cecil Payne, baritone, Ernie sax, Howard Johnson, alto' across the street from each other, the Savoy and the Essex.Essex' Henry, reeds, John Brown, alto sax, Howard Johnson, alto. a hot minute. It was really “In"In the Savoy Theater, we couldn’tcouldn't sit on the firstfirst floor.floor' Miles was even in the band for a hot minute. It was really We had to sit in the balcony because of racism. Nine miles interesting.interesting. consequently, I from New York!”York!" He laughed. “I"I didn’tdidn't go to school for music.music' So consequently, I person who “I"I would always go to the Adams Theater in Newark.Newark' wouldn’twouldn't be looking for the same things as a person who just the move, and knowing Count Basie’sBasie's band came and I went to that, hoping to see knew music. I think I was just on the move, and knowing 1 October 2005 1 said, 'Yeah.' So he said, 'I'll send you a that I didn’tdidn't know musically what I thought I ought to know.know' twelve sides?’sides?' I said, ‘Yeah.’ So he said, ‘I’ll send you a 'I don't want to fly,' I said. 'I want to go on a But I was just trying to get better. You know, when you don’tdon't plane ticket.’ticket.' ‘I don’t want to fly,’ I said. ‘I want to go on a a boat to Sweden.' And that's what I did' know something, you don’tdon't know what it is you don’tdon't know.know' boattoat — aatrainandtrain and a boat to Sweden.’ And that’s what I did. - is that Moody's Mood Love was the You can’tcan't very well explain that to anyone. “The"The funny thing is that Moody ’s Moodfor Love was the Needing another song for the “That"That was the firstfirst time I went anywhere in the country.country' twelfth song on the date.”date." Needing another song for the the producer asked Moody for a suggestion, and he We went on a tour with EllaEllaFitzgerald.Fitzgerald. We went down south.south' session, the producer asked Moody for a suggestion, and he the Moodfor Love" There’sThere's where I got my thing, again, about the signs.signs' Colored proffered II'm’m in the Moodfor Love. an arrangement for it' So Gusta — White. It’sIt's funny, how we went from Colored to Black.Black' “But"But they didn’tdidn't have an arrangement for it. So Gusta - stepped out and went to the What color is this watchband?”watchband?" Theselius, who was the arranger, stepped out and went to the john, out the notes. I borrowed Per-Arne It was black. john, and sketched out the notes. I borrowed Per-Arne and we did it in one take' You “What"What color am I?”I?" Croona’sCroona's alto saxophone and we did it in one take. You horn nowadays. Youjust don't The answer of course was brown. wouldn’tplaywouldn'tplay someone else’selse's horn nowadays. Youj ust don ’t There wasn't any AIDS' Moody said, “I"l really object to it. People that say, ‘Oh'Oh do it. But in those days it was cool. There wasn’t any AIDS. made that disease well, he’she's a black guy.’guy.' My uncle over there, he’she's black?”black?" His Man hadn’thadn't made that disease yet.Yet. player's name now. It may have uncle Louis, who had given him his firstfirst saxophone, was “I"I can’tcan't think of the piano player’ s name now. It may have was.] And Yngve Akerberg was on sitting at the far side of Moody’sMoody's family room, lighter than a been Thor Swanerud. [It was.] And Yngve Akerberg was on drums. Arne Domnerus was lot of white people. It was a subject Moody would retumreturn to.to' the bass. Anders BumtanBurman was on drums. Arne Domnerus was Metronome Records. When it came over The band toured all over the south. “You"You know,”know," he said, on alto. It was on Metronome Records. When it came over Records." It certainly did: it was a “the"the Chitlin’Chitlin' circuit. The Apollo Theater, the Howard Theater here, it made Prestige Records.” It certainly did: it was a Eddie Jefferson put words in Washington D.C., the Royal Theater in Baltimore.Baltimore' If you huge hit for the company.