Michael Moore (born December 4, 1954) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

musician who has lived in the Netherlands since 1982.

Background and career

The son of a semi-professional musician, Moore was born and raised in

Eureka, California Eureka ( ; Wiyot: ; Hupa: ; ) is a city and the county seat of Humboldt County, located on the North Coast of California. The city is located on U.S. Route 101 on the shores of Humboldt Bay, north of San Francisco and south of the Oreg ...

. He studied music at Humboldt State and in 1977 graduated from the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

, where he studied with

Jaki Byard John Arthur "Jaki" Byard (; June 15, 1922 – February 11, 1999) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and arranger. Mainly a pianist, he also played tenor and alto saxophones, among several other instruments. He was known for h ...

and

Gunther Schuller Gunther Alexander Schuller (November 22, 1925June 21, 2015) was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, educator, publisher, and jazz musician. Biography and works Early years Schuller was born in Queens, New York City ...

, and was a classmate of Marty Ehrlich. He played in a variety of musical contexts, especially those in support of theatre and dance groups. By 1982 he was a regular member of

Misha Mengelberg Misha Mengelberg (5 June 1935 – 3 March 2017) was a Dutch jazz pianist and composer.Feather, Leonard & Gitler, Ira (2007) ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'', p. 459. Oxford University Press. A prominent figure in post-WWII European Jazz ...

's Instant Composers Pool and had moved to Amsterdam. He was also a member of Georg Gräwe's Grubenklang Orchester. Moore is one-third of the Clusone Trio (aka Trio Clusone and Clusone 3) with cellist

Ernst Reijseger Ernst Reijseger (born 13 November 1954) is a Dutch cellist and composer. He specializes in avant-garde jazz, free jazz, improvised music, and contemporary classical music and often gives solo concerts. He has worked with Louis Sclavis, Derek ...

and drummer

Han Bennink Han Bennink (born 17 April 1942) is a Dutch drummer and percussionist. On occasion his recordings have featured him playing soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, trombone, violin, banjo and piano. Though perhaps best known as one of the pivotal figu ...

. Originally meant only to play a single date at a festival in Clusone, Italy, the trio toured irregularly for several years and recorded six albums, including one of freely-interpreted

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Isidore Beilin; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Berlin received numerous honors including an Acade ...

compositions. Moore's first recording as a leader was in 1992 but it was with 1994's ''Chicoutimi'' that he began to earn recognition as a composer. The drummerless trio on this album (

Fred Hersch Fred Hersch (born October 21, 1955) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and a 17-time Grammy nominée. He was the first person to play weeklong engagements as a solo pianist at the Village Vanguard in New York City. He has recorded more than ...

, piano, and

Mark Helias Mark Helias (born October 1, 1950) is an American double bass player and composer born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He started playing the double bass at the age of 20, and studied with Homer Mensch at Rutgers University from 1971 to 1974, then ...

, bass) was inspired by the duo recordings of

Lee Konitz Leon "Lee" Konitz (October 13, 1927 – April 15, 2020) was an American jazz Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist and composer. He performed successfully in a wide range of jazz styles, including bebop, cool jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Konitz's ass ...

and

Gil Evans Ian Ernest Gilmore Evans (né Green; May 13, 1912 – March 20, 1988) was a Canadian Americans, Canadian–American jazz pianist, Music arranger, arranger, composer and bandleader. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest orchestrators i ...

and recalls in places the

Jimmy Giuffre James Peter Giuffre (, ; April 26, 1921 – April 24, 2008) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He is known for developing forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating f ...

trios of the early 1960s. Moore also plays in Jewels and Binoculars, a collective trio with bassist Lindsey Horner and drummer Michael Vatcher which is devoted to interpretations of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

songs. In 1986, Moore won the

VPRO/Boy Edgar Award The VPRO/Boy Edgar Award, is an annual award given to a Dutch jazz musician, composer, or bandleader. The individual must have made significant contributions to the Dutch jazz scene over a significant period of time. The award is a sculpture by Dut ...

, the most prestigious jazz award in the Netherlands. In 1991, he founded Ramboy Records to document his music. Moore started his jazz quintet in 2005, in which he works with accomplished Dutch players: trumpeter Eric Vloeimans, pianist Marc van Roon, bassist Paul Berner, and drummer Owen Hart, Jr. In October 2005, the quintet recorded the album ''Osiris''. In 2013, he performed with InstanPool, a group of international musicians making improved music and occasionally playing a composition. InstanPool consists of Michael Moore and Mark Alban Lotz (winds), Korhan Erel and Robert van Heumen (laptops), Sevket Akinci and Giray Gürkal (guitars, electronics). Some members are also in Islak Köpek.

Discography

As leader

* '' MGM Trio'' (1996) with Marilyn Crispell and Gerry Hemingway * ''Thirteen Ways'' (1997) with Fred Hersch * ''Monitor'' (1999) * ''The Voice Is The Matter'' (1999) with Jodi Gilbert * ''Mt. Olympus'' (2000) with Alex Maguire * ''Pursuit'' (2000) with Benoit Delbecq 5 * ''White Widow'' (2001) * ''Air Street'' (2002) * ''Floating 1...2...3'' (2002) * ''Jewels & Binoculars'' (2003) * ''Kamosc'' (2006) with Achim Kaufmann * ''Simple Songs'' (2007) with Celano Baggiani Group * ''This We Know'' (2008) with Fred Hersch * ''Fragile'' (2008) * ''PPP5'' (2009) with Cor Fuhler * ''Live In NYC'' (2011) with Will Holhauser * ''Easter Sunday'' (2011) * ''Coconut'' (2012) with Eric Boeren * ''Something Nothing'' (2013) with Achim Kaufmann * ''Nothing Something'' (2013) with Achim Kaufmann * ''Furthermore'' (2013) with Achim Kaufmann * ''Felix Quartet'' (2016) With Dave Douglas *'' Mountain Passages'' (Greenleaf, 2005)

Footnotes

Bibliography

Biography at Ramboy Recordings
* Whitehead, Kevin. ''New Dutch Swing'' (1998). New York: Billboard Books. .

External links

ICP Orchestra homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Michael American jazz clarinetists American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists Avant-garde jazz clarinetists Avant-garde jazz saxophonists Free improvisation clarinetists Free improvisation saxophonists Jazz musicians from California 1954 births Living people People from Eureka, California 21st-century American saxophonists 21st-century American clarinetists 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians ICP Orchestra members Clusone Trio members