Numa Smith "Pee Wee" Moore (March 5, 1928 – April 13, 2009) was 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 ...

saxophonist.Zagier, Alan Scher. News and Observer (Durham, NC). "Jazzman doesn't sing the blues." 2/22/1999

Early life and education

Moore was born in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

and attended Washington High School in Raleigh and the

Hampton Institute Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missiona ...

in Virginia, where he switched his major from pre-med to music after one semester. He joined the Royal Hamptonians and toured on a USO circuit. While traveling back to Hampton from New York, Pee Wee, while asleep in the backseat of his friend's car, lost his left eye in an accident.

Musical career

Moore played with

Lucky Millinder Lucius Venable "Lucky" Millinder (August 8, 1910 – September 28, 1966) was an American swing music, swing and rhythm and blues, rhythm-and-blues bandleader. Although he could not read or write music, did not play an instrument and rarely sang ...

and

Louis Jordan Louis Thomas Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975) was an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the King ...

in 1951, and played with R&B musicians such as

Wynonie Harris Wynonie Harris (August 24, 1915 – June 14, 1969) was an American blues shouter best remembered as a singer of upbeat songs, featuring humorous, often ribald lyrics. He had fifteen Top 10 hits between 1946 and 1952. Harris is attributed by ...

early in the decade. He worked with

Illinois Jacquet Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet (October 30, 1922 – July 22, 2004) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, best remembered for his solo on " Flying Home", critically recognized as the first R&B saxophone solo. He is also known as one of the w ...

in 1952 and James Moody in 1954-56, then played with

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

in 1957, recording with him on several albums for

Verve Records Verve Records is an active American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Ca ...

. He also worked with

Mary Lou Williams Mary Lou Williams (born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs; May 8, 1910 – May 28, 1981) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records (in 78, 45, and ...

in 1957 and

Bill Doggett William Ballard Doggett (February 16, 1916 – November 13, 1996) was an American pianist and organist. He began his career playing swing music before transitioning into rhythm and blues. Best known for his instrumental compositions "Honky Tonk ...

in 1965.

Barry Kernfeld Barry Dean Kernfeld (born August 11, 1950) is an American musicologist and jazz saxophonist who has researched and published extensively about the history of jazz and the biographies of its musicians. Education In 1968, Kernfeld enrolled at ...

, "Pee Wee Moore". '' Grove Jazz'' online. Moore moved from New York back to Raleigh in the 1970s to care for his mother and recover from alcohol addiction. There, he earned a living as a handyman while playing regularly at a variety of venues in the Raleigh-Durham area.

Discography

With

*'' Dizzy Gillespie at Newport'' (Verve, 1957) *'' The Greatest Trumpet of Them All'' (Verve, 1957) With James Moody *'' Moodsville'' (EmArcy, 1952) *'' Moody'' (Prestige, 1954) also released as ''Moody's Workshop'' *'' James Moody's Moods'' (Prestige, 1954–55) *''

Hi Fi Party ''Hi Fi Party'' is an album by saxophonist James Moody recorded in 1955 and released on the Prestige label.Wail, Moody, Wail'' (Prestige, 1955) *'' Flute 'n the Blues'' (Argo, 1956) *'' Moody's Mood for Love'' (Argo, 1956)

References

External links

Images from the Pee Wee Moore Memorial Concert (June 2009) in Flickr

Pee Wee Moore Papers
Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University {{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Pee Wee 1928 births 2009 deaths American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists 20th-century American saxophonists Jazz musicians from North Carolina 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians