James Moody was born in Savannah, Georgia. As he grew up in New Jersey, he … Read Full Bio ↴James Moody was born in Savannah, Georgia. As he grew up in New Jersey, he was attracted to the saxophone after hearing George Holmes Tate, Don Byas, and Count Basie, and later also took up the flute. He joined the US Air Force in 1943 and played in the "negro band" on the segregated base.[1] Following his discharge from the military in 1946 he played be-bop with Dizzy Gillespie for two years. His colleague in the Gillespie group, pianist Kenny Barron would be an important musical collaborator in the coming decades.
In 1948 he recorded his first album, for Blue Note Records, the first of 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.[1] His European work, including the first recording of "Moody's Mood for Love" saw him add the alto saxophone to his repertoire and helped to establish him as recording artist in his own right, and were 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.
Even as an octogenarian, Moody travels and performs globally, both as a featured guest and as a leader of his own group, the James Moody Quartet (with pianist Renee Rosnes, bassist Todd Coolman, and drummer Adam Nussbaum). Moody plays regularly with Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars and the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars Big Band and also often collaborates 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.
On November 3, 2009, James Moody appeared live in an interview conducted in both Italian and English (Moody speaks Italian) with popular host and jazz aficionado Nick "The Nightfly" on Radio Monte Carlo's late-night "Monte Carlo Nights" program. The chat, at 11pm CET, featured an amiable Moody talking about his career. "Monte Carlo Nights" can be heard throughout Italy via the RMC network; the program originates from Milan, where Nick also works with the Blue Note jazz venue.
Moody plays exclusively on saxophones made by Keilwerth.