James Moody, Saxophone, 1925, Savannah, GA
James grew up in Reading, Pa. and Newark, NJ, where he took up the saxophone at age 16. While serving in the air force (1943-46) he met Dizzy Gillespie who was playing a USO tour with his band. After his discharge he went to work for Dizzy as a tenor saxist. He played with Gillespie for several years before touring Europe where he began playing the alto sax. In 1949 he recorded "I'm in The Mood For Love" that became a big hit. It was later recorded by Eddie Jefferson who put his own lyrics to the tune. In 1951 he returned to New York and formed a septet that played a style of jazz strongly influenced by rhythm-and-blues. He kept this group together for five years making a series of outstanding recordings. From 1956 to 1963 he had a second group in which he played flute as well as sax. Then from 1963 to 1969 he worked in a small group with Dizzy Gillespie. Later he worked as a freelance and toured Europe several times. Moody is a fluent soloist with a strong sense of swing and a feeling for the blues. His influence on tenor is Lester Young and on alto it's Charlie Parker. He has made his most effective recordings with small groups.
Mike Richmond, Bass, 1948, Philadelphia, PA.
After attending Temple University, Mike taught high school in Philadelphia and played in local bands. In 1970 while playing with Chico Hamilton he began an association with Arnie Lawrence with whom he later appeared at the Berliner Jazztage (1977). He also toured and recorded with Stan Getz, Jack DeJohnette, Horace Silver, Hubert Laws, and intermittently with Gil Evans. In 1980 Mike became interested in Indian music and went to Bombay, where he performed with Ravi Shankar. He later was the music director of Mingus Dynasty and played with the group at the Montreux International Jazz Festival. He has also written instructional books on bass technique.
