CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Dizzy Gillespie & James Moody with Gil Fuller & the Monterey Jazz Festival Orchestra

by: Dizzy Gillespie & James Moody with Gil Fuller & the Monterey Jazz Festival

Release Date May 13, 2008
Putting together two LPs that Gil Fuller-led Monterey jazz festival orchestra recorded with two distinctive and highly compatible old friends seems like a good idea. The first album features Dizzy Gillespie as a star, the second ("Night Flight") stars James Moody with his flute and sax virtuosity...

And, yes, Gil Fuller is the arranger famous for his work with the great Dizzy Gillespie's big band and he also hired James Moody who became one of Dizzy's favorite associates.

So far so good. However, the performances of Gillespie and Moody, when compared with the hights of their carreer simply do not measure, whereas the orchestra is surprisingly bland considering not too frequent individual shining moments from the memebers ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
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Moody Plays Mancini

by: James Moody

Release Date September 09, 1997
Moody a true JAZZ GIANT, gives here a splendid interpretation of some of the best known Mancini's standards. Here you have one of the best songwriters of the passed century, and one of the overall ever best jazz musicians. What do you think could came out from this encounter? Fantastic music obviously ... Moody has the perfect attitude to play Mancini's music. He is absolutly perfect to play a music that is humorous, malinconic, sad and happy at the same time, fresh, light but deep ... I really love Mancini's songbook and I really love when great jazz musicians put their musicianship at the service of this music. If you want to buy two fantastic Mancini's songbooks buy this one and the one Sarah Vaughan recorded (it's a Mercury record). You'll thank me ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
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Moody's Mood for Blues

by: James Moody

Release Date April 30, 1994
You won't regret buying this cd. The cd is filled with beautiful tunes.

CD-Charts Position 4
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Hi-Fi Party

by: James Moody

Release Date July 01, 1991
This is James Moody's 1954/55 New York septet recording for Prestige records 8/55. James hasn't taken up the flute yet but with trumpeter Dave Burns in the band there was no need to. As on WAIL MOODY WAIL there is a long stretch out track- Jammin' with James- the track runs 11 1/2 minutes and is the blues as opposed to the other one a 32 with a bridge. James solos on tenor and alto with Burn's trumpet in the middle and then some exchanges toward the end. The shorter tracks are good too with Burn's getting in some licks and James taking the ballads himself. Eddie Jefferson sings but once here and not at all on WAIL MOODY WAIL.---- For more Dave Burns in this kind of groove see Johnny Griffin's STUDIO JAZZ PARTY.

CD-Charts Position 5
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Moody's Mood for Love

by: James Moody

Release Date May 19, 1998
A few years after Moody got famous by playing his solo on "I'm In the Mood for Love," we find the soxophonist playing his own brand of bebop and hard bop both on the sax and on the flute. He picked up the flute after being encouraged from some flautist friends, including Yusef Lateef. To this day, Moody still does not consider himself a flute player - he thinks of himself as a "flute holder."

Moody's Mood For Love is a fine album with a good collection of tempos and instruments. Moody sounds equally fluent on both the tenor sax and the flute. Vocalist Eddie Jefferson appears on a couple of tracks, once to sing the famous "Moody's Mood" in his own peculiar style. A solid addition to your collection.

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Don't Look Away Now

by: James Moody

Release Date March 18, 1997
I just listened to this album with a friend who had never heard it before over a rough highway in Southern California. He immediately was humming the melodies after he heard them a few times and really enjoyed it. This album is one of those albums that is instantly accessible and enjoyable and is also great after a number of listens.

James Moody is a bebop master who played with Dizzy Gillespie and this album finds him in the year 1969, where a number of major developments in jazz have occurred. Moody is found taking in the developments of people like Coltrane into his conception on this album, sounding convincingly avant-garde and also extremely grounded. This is especially noticeable on the intro to the classic ballad "Easy Living" ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Our Delight

by: James Moody

Release Date October 14, 2008
I just listened to this album with a friend who had never heard it before over a rough highway in Southern California. He immediately was humming the melodies after he heard them a few times and really enjoyed it. This album is one of those albums that is instantly accessible and enjoyable and is also great after a number of listens.

James Moody is a bebop master who played with Dizzy Gillespie and this album finds him in the year 1969, where a number of major developments in jazz have occurred. Moody is found taking in the developments of people like Coltrane into his conception on this album, sounding convincingly avant-garde and also extremely grounded. This is especially noticeable on the intro to the classic ballad "Easy Living" ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

Live at the Royal Festival Hall, London

by: Dizzy Gillespie, James Moody, Arturo Sandoval, Paquito D'Rivera, Mario Rivera, Flora Purim

Release Date October 23, 2001
One of my favorite CDs of all time. Dizzy with an all star orchestra in front of a very appreciative audience. How appreciative? The performance received a ten minute standing ovation at the end.

"Tin Tin Deo" brings to mind Chano Pozo with Dizzy and his orchestra in the 40's (Still available on CD). An incredible performance for arrangement, solos, and the pure fire of the orchestra. The ominious percussion intro of Manenguito, Airto, and Ignacio Berroa are particularly effective. The alto solo by Paquito D'Rivera is hair-raisingly gorgeous. Danilo Perez doesn't solo but his piano is crucial, driving the solos and the orchestra with explosive chording.

This is followed by a wonderful display of clarinet mastery by Paquito ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
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Fly Me to the Moon

by: James Moody, Kenny Barron

Release Date April 23, 2007
This CD collects the first 2 albums James Moody and pianist Kenny Barron made together: "Another Bag" (1962) and "Comin' on Strong" (1963), both for Argo. Moody is an adventurous player on tenor sax and is especially effective on the blues and slow ballads. A Coltrane influence can be detected on the slow tunes as James goes into double time and produces Coltrane-like sheets of sound - witness SONEYMOON FOR TWO. He is also one of the finest flute players in jazz, and about half the tracks feature him on that instrument. From the earlier and less successful album the most interesting side might be ALLY, which is in 3 parts - a sizzling tenor middle section flanked by mellow flute. This album features the group playing all originals in a very hard bop style. More laid ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

Teachers

by: James Moody

Release Date October 08, 2002
This CD collects the first 2 albums James Moody and pianist Kenny Barron made together: "Another Bag" (1962) and "Comin' on Strong" (1963), both for Argo. Moody is an adventurous player on tenor sax and is especially effective on the blues and slow ballads. A Coltrane influence can be detected on the slow tunes as James goes into double time and produces Coltrane-like sheets of sound - witness SONEYMOON FOR TWO. He is also one of the finest flute players in jazz, and about half the tracks feature him on that instrument. From the earlier and less successful album the most interesting side might be ALLY, which is in 3 parts - a sizzling tenor middle section flanked by mellow flute. This album features the group playing all originals in a very hard bop style. More laid ... Read More: