Brew Moore

Brew Moore once said that "Anyone who doesn't play like Lester Young is wrong," a philosophy he followed throughout his career. In the early '50s, he recorded on a session with fellow tenors Stan Getz, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, and Allan Eager; at the time, they all sounded identical. Moore was the only one of the five who did not change his sound through the years. During 1942-1948, he worked with local bands in New Orleans and Memphis, moving to New York in 1948 and playing with Claude Thornhill's Orchestra (1948-1949). During the next few years, he freelanced, working with Machito, Kai Winding, and Gerry Mulligan, among others. In 1954, he moved to San Francisco, where he led his own groups and played with Cal Tjader. Moore, whose cool sound became out of fashion, moved to Copenhagen in 1961 and, other than three years in New York (1967-1970), stayed overseas until his death. He recorded as a leader for Savoy (1948-1949), Fantasy (1955-1957), Jazz Mark, Debut, SteepleChase, Sonet, and Storyville.