FM
Biography
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.