Black History Month: Cookin' the Blues by James Moody
Jazzy blues or bluesy jazz, whatever you want to call it, it cooks
Cookin’ the Blues
James Moody
Argo DJLP-756
Released 1965
James Moody was born in Savannah, Georgia in 1925. His family moved to Newark, New Jersey where he was attracted to the saxophone after hearing various saxophonists playing with Count Basie. At 16, his uncle bought him his first alto saxophone. He joined the Army where he played in the segregated “negro band” on base. After his discharge in 1946, he joined Dizzy Gillepsie’s band and after touring Europe with Gillespie he decided to relocate there to escape racism in the US. He was a successful solo artist there playing alto and tenor saxophone and was part of the European jazz boom in the late 1940s. He returned to the US in 1951 and added flute to his repertoire. The tracks on Cookin’ the Blues were recorded live in 1961 at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco. Moody plays tenor and alto saxophone except on the original composition “Moody Flooty” where, as the title implies, he plays flute. Moody gets a great jazzy blues feel on his flute and his playing has an easy, controlled swing. Vocalist Eddie Jefferson joins on two tracks, Horace Silver’s “Sister Sadie” with lyrics written by Jefferson and his original “Disappointed.” On the latter, Jefferson wrote words based on Charlie Parker’s solo on “Lady Be Good.” Moody’s band includes Bernard McKinney (trombone), Howard McGhee (trumpet), Musa Kaleem (baritone sax), Sonny Donaldson (piano), Steve Davis (Bass), and Arnold Enlow (drums). The band takes a supporting role; Moody takes all the solos except for a short piano solo from Donaldson on “The Jazz Twist.” The album is all-Moody and definitely cooks the blues with jazz authority. Moody died from pancreatic cancer in December 2010. Two months later, he received a posthumous Grammy award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album. The annual James Moody Jazz Festival organized by the New Jersey Performing Arts Center is held in Newark, New Jersey.