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Pee Wee Moore in the Seventies
Pee Wee Moore as a young man
Pee Wee Moore in 2008

Numa Smith "Pee Wee" Moore (March 5, 1928 – April 13, 2009) was an American jazz saxophonist. [1]

Early life and education

Moore was born in Raleigh, North Carolina and attended Washington High School in Raleigh and the Hampton Institute in Virginia, [2] 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. [1]

Musical career

Moore played with Lucky Millinder and Louis Jordan in 1951, and played with R&B musicians such as Wynonie Harris early in the decade. He worked with Illinois Jacquet in 1952 and James Moody in 1954-56, then played with Dizzy Gillespie in 1957, recording with him on several albums for Verve Records. He also worked with Mary Lou Williams in 1957 and Bill Doggett in 1965. [3]

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. [1]

Discography

With Dizzy Gillespie

With James Moody

References

  1. ^ a b c Zagier, Alan Scher. News and Observer (Durham, NC). "Jazzman doesn’t sing the blues." 2/22/1999
  2. ^ "Guide to the Pee Wee Moore Papers, 1945-2009". David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
  3. ^ Barry Kernfeld, "Pee Wee Moore". Grove Jazz online.

External links