LeRoi Moore
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LeRoi Holloway Moore (September 7, 1961 – August 19, 2008) was an American saxophonist. He was a founding member of the
Dave Matthews Band Dave Matthews Band (also known as DMB) is an American rock band from Charlottesville, Virginia. The band's lineup consists of Dave Matthews (lead vocals, guitar), Stefan Lessard (bass), Carter Beauford (drums), Tim Reynolds (lead guitar), R ...
. Moore often arranged music for songs written by
Dave Matthews David John Matthews (born January 9, 1967) is an American musician and the lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band (DMB). Matthews was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and moved frequently between South Africa, ...
. Moore also co-wrote many of the band's songs, notably " Too Much" and " Stay (Wasting Time)".


Biography

Moore was born in
Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...
to Roxie Holloway Moore and Albert P. Moore. Raised in Virginia, he attended college at
James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public university, public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1908, the institution was renamed in 1938 in honor of the fourth president of the ...
studying
tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...
, and later became an accomplished jazz musician in
Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the county seat, seat of government of Albemarle County, Virginia, Albemarle County, which surrounds the ...
, playing with artists such as John D'earth and Dawn Thompson. Moore began playing professionally after a brief stay in college. Moore helped found the Charlottesville Swing Orchestra (1982), and the John D'earth Quintet. The latter played at Miller's, a Charlottesville bar, every Thursday night in the late 1980s, where Moore first met Dave Matthews in 1991. In an effort to bring in instrumental help for some songs Matthews had written, Moore began recording songs with Matthews. Moore played bass, baritone, tenor, alto, and soprano saxophones, as well as the flute,
bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common Soprano clarinet, soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays no ...
, the wooden penny whistle, and the
oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...
. Moore's woodwind technician, David Saull, notes that Moore had "quite an extensive horn collection." In addition to performing with the Dave Matthews Band, Moore recorded a 1995 album with Thompson and Greg Howard under the name Code Magenta, combining improvised jazz grooves with spoken-word poetry. He appeared on '' In November Sunlight'', the 1996 debut album of Sokoband (then known as Soko). Moore also worked as a producer with artist Samantha Farrell on her second album, ''Luminous''.


Injury and death

Moore was injured on June 30, 2008, in an
all-terrain vehicle An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike or quad (if it has four wheels), as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, has a seat ...
accident on his farm outside Charlottesville, Virginia. His last live performance took place two days prior at the Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Virginia. Moore was riding an ATV on his farm to check a fence when he hit a grass-covered ditch, causing the ATV to flip and partially land on him. He broke several ribs and punctured a lung, and was hospitalized at UVA for several days. After his release, he was re-hospitalized in mid-July for complications related to the accident. Jeff Coffin, the saxophonist from
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones Béla Fleck and the Flecktones is an American jazz fusion band that is known for its eclectic style and instrumentation, combining jazz Musical improvisation, improvisation with progressive bluegrass, Rock music, rock, Classical music, classical ...
, stood in for Moore on subsequent tour dates, starting July 1, 2008, in Charlotte, North Carolina. This marked the first time a band member had missed a show since 1993, two years after the band was formed. The following statement was released on the band's website:
We are deeply saddened to announce that LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and founding member of Dave Matthews Band, died unexpectedly Tuesday afternoon, August 19, 2008, at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles from sudden complications stemming from his June ATV accident on his farm near Charlottesville, Virginia. LeRoi had recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin an intensive physical rehabilitation program.
Matthews paid tribute to Moore on the day of his death at the
Staples Center Crypto.com Arena (originally and colloquially known as Staples Center) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in downtown Los Angeles. Opened on October 17, 1999, as Staples Center, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along F ...
, Los Angeles, after the band's first song of the performance, "
Bartender A bartender (also known as a barkeep or barman or barmaid or a mixologist) is a person who formulates and serves alcoholic or soft drink beverages behind the Bar (establishment), bar, usually in a licensed bar (establishment), establishment as ...
." "We all had some bad news today," Matthews told the sold-out crowd. "Our good friend LeRoi Moore passed on and gave his ghost up today and we will miss him forever." Fans then shouted Moore's name in remembrance. On August 27, Moore was entombed at Holly Memorial Gardens in Albemarle County. Attendance at the funeral numbered in the thousands, including the rest of the band, Moore's family, and dedicated fans. Moore died three months shy of his planned November 8, 2008 wedding to Lisa Beane. Dave Matthews Band released LeRoi Moore's final concert performance as ''Live Trax Vol. 14''. The concert took place in the band's home state of Virginia in Bristow on June 28, 2008. Proceeds from the CD were donated to local charities that Moore valued.


Tribute

On September 30, 2008, during a concert in Brazil for the South American Tour while the Dave Matthews Band was playing the introduction of " #41," Brazilian fans spread white balloons around the concert house in order to pay homage to Moore. At this point, the band almost completely stopped playing and thanked the crowd for this amazing show of thanks to Moore. Violinist Boyd Tinsley was driven to tears by this homage to Moore. After Moore's death, Methane Studios, the company that creates most of the band's show posters, paid tribute to Moore on the posters that were sold at the shows. One such poster that was sold at a show on September 7, 2008, which would have been Moore's 47th birthday, has become a sought after collectors item among fans. Sales of the poster have been seen as high as $600 on eBay. A second tribute poster was printed and released on September 6, 2009, and was sold during the final day of the Gorge '09 show. The poster was the King of Spades, a part of the Royal Flush series. There were 1100 printed and all prints sold out in the first hour. It shows the King of Spades playing a saxophone with his eyes closed. Across the base of his crown it reads "GrooGrux King." Glow sticks were also tossed by the crowd during the Gorge shows in 2008, as well as a tribute slide show video with photos of Moore, played along with the studio version of " #34" during the encore breaks. At the
51st Grammy Awards The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 8, 2009, honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2007, through September 30, 2008. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the ...
, the first one following Moore's death, a video tribute to musicians who had died in the previous year excluded Moore, disappointing and angering fans.
Neil Portnow Neil R. Portnow is an American music industry executive who served as the chairman and CEO of The Recording Academy and MusiCares from 2002 to 2019. Prior to that, Portnow was the vice-president of the West Coast division of Jive Records and Ar ...
, president of the
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American Learned society, learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely kno ...
, responded with a statement noting that Moore was included in a list of deceased musicians in the program for the event, and "unfortunately we are unable to include all of the talented and wonderful people within the allotted timeframe." This created tremendous outrage from the band's fans and many other music celebrities.


References


External links


Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King
''Rolling Stone'', June 2009
LeRoi Moore, The Influence of a Woodwind Master

‘Tortured,’ ’shining’ Moore remembered by Dave




{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Leroi 1961 births 2008 deaths Deaths from pneumonia in California African-American rock musicians African-American woodwind musicians Bass clarinetists Dave Matthews Band members James Madison University alumni American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists Musicians from Durham, North Carolina Musicians from Charlottesville, Virginia American rock saxophonists 20th-century American saxophonists Jazz musicians from Virginia Jazz musicians from North Carolina American male jazz musicians 20th-century American male musicians