JAMES MOODY

I've been a jazz fan since I watched the TV show Peter Gunn in the late 1950s. Gunn (Craig Stevens)was a private eye who was the epitome of cool to a young teen. He always dropped into the night club where his girl friend Edie (Lola Albright) worked. There was always some jazz combo playing in the background. This was an exotic world that I intended to inhabit as an adult. Alas, this is a world that I have visited as an adult but not inhabited.

I began my jazz collection when I was an L one @ IU/Bloomington. I often broswed the Karma record store across the street from the law school and perused all the jazz album covers and notes. James Moody was often featured as a sideman on some of these albums and I purchased of few of these. Moody was one of the underappreciated giants of the tenor sax and flute.

I got the opportunity to see him live in Chicago in 1981/1982 during my intermarital period. He was playing at lounge in one of the downtown hotels. I took a lady friend that I knew in Chitown. I can't say that we were as cool as Peter and Edie but, we were making the scene. During the set we attended, Moody interjected some comedy and singing after he played his obligatory signature piece, Moody's Mood. I was struck by Moody's apparent speech impediment. As an instumentalist, singing and talking was not required of him but, this was part of his performance and his speech impediment was his schtick.

James Moody died on 12/9/2010 at the age of 85. He still had appearances on his touring schedule. Last week, Terry Gross on NPR "Fresh Air" did a replay of an interview she did with James Moody several years ago as a requiem. During this interview, Moody explained that he had a congenital hearing loss that made it difficult for him to pronounce certain letters that he could't hear. I gave some thought to how unlikely it was that an individual with a lifelong hearing deficiency could become a jazz icon. When a prominent musician dies, technology provides him/her with a greatly extended afterlife through recordings and transcriptions. Artists such as James Moody have the ability to inspire for generations. This intimation of immortality is one of the reasons that music is so engrained in both traditional and modern culture.