James Moody - Moody's Mood For Love (1956-57)

Hace unos días falleció James Moody, un músico con el que nunca he tenido mucha afinidad, pero al que no se le puede negar un lugar de excepción en la historia del jazz.

Este es mi disco favorito de entre los suyos, más por motivos personales que musicales. En él Moody toca mucho la flauta, algo que hacía particularmente bien, y está acompañado por, entre otros, el gran Johnny Coles. Como curiosidad, Benny Golson toca el piano en "Foolin' The Blues".



En cuanto a Moody, probablemente no soy el apropiado para hablar mucho sobre él, así que me he tomado la libertad de transcribir aquí un precioso texto que David Liebman colgó ayer en su página de Facebook. Sus palabras son inmejorables, así que os dejo con ellas.

=Moody now belongs to the ages=

Moody - what can you say?

First of all, he was a jazz musican of the first order beyond "Moody's Mood," which, of course, was his trademark song. Specifically, it was his flute playing that was unique and truly be-bop, played on a very difficult instrument to exert control.

But Moody had more going than many of his contemporaries because of his naturally ebullient personality, which was key to his communicative success with an audience. Further was James' unquenchable thirst to learn more and be on top of contemporary trends.

I remember one of my early tours with the Elvin Jones Group (1972) as part of a George Wein Newport style armada trudging throughout Europe. Moody was part of the "Young Giants of Jazz" with Sonny Stitt, Roy Haynes and others of his generation. James couldn't get enough of asking my partner, Steve Grossman, and myself about pentatonic and diminished scale licks, "Giant Steps" and other Coltraneisms that we were playing, wirting them down and discussing.

At one point, Illinois Jacquet yelled something in the bus to us all seated together in the back to the effect of why bother with that "bull...." James just laughed and told us to ignore him.

Moody was a true artist, a lover of life and a gentle loving human being. I'll miss him.

Dave Liebman, (15-12-2010)

Nota: Pinchando en la portada puedes escuchar el disco en Spotify (sólo en algunos países).