RIP - Danny Moss

[RogerF]

Danny Moss died in Perth, Western Australia, on May 28 aged 80. He was born in Britain on August 15, 1927, and was a very much admired tenor saxophonist who was renowned throughout the world. In the early 1960s Meldoy Maker jazz polls he was pipped from being voted top tenor sax player in Britain by the formidable Tubby Hayes. But since Tubby Hayes is widely regarded as the best tenor player the UK has ever produced, to come second in this category at that time is no mean feat in itself. In his 60 plus years as a professional jazz musician he played and recorded with some of the UK’s biggest names in jazz such as Ted Heath, Humphrey Lyttelton and Sir John Dankworth (with whom he recorded 'The Zodiac Variations' and more recently they recorded another album, ‘About 42 Years Later’). He married singer Jeannie Lambe and they eventually emigrated to Australia in the late 1980s. However, he remained a busy professional musician and toured Europe sporadically. He was made an MBE in 1990. I was fortunate enough to meet him a few years ago when he played at a jazz club near where I live, and I found him a charming and modest person and his playing was truly sublime. RIP Danny.

[Alexander Hawkins]

RIP - there's a recent one with Stan Tracey, I think, although I have to say I haven't heard it yet.

[John Tapscott]

I have a terrific Danny Moss Cd - The Danny Moss Quartet - "Weaver of Dreams" on Nagel-Hayer - just pulled it off the shelf for a listen. A wonderful tenor player. RIP Danny.

[Free For All]

I have a terrific Danny Moss Cd - The Danny Moss Quartet - "Weaver of Dreams" on Nagel-Hayer - just pulled it off the shelf for a listen. A wonderful tenor player. RIP Danny.

I have that one too, John, and agree with you.

I first heard Danny Moss on a Maynard Ferguson record. I loved his warm, breathy tenor sound.

RIP

[sidewinder]

Sad news, a fine player with a good, big sound on the tenor. Heard this one the radio over the weekend, announced by Simon Spillett during his live performance on the Saturday show.

I have a UK Columbia album of him of standards with strings which doesn't seem to be too well known - will dig it out by way of tribute. Those late 60s/early 70s Maynard albums on CBS recorded in the UK also have some fine solo work from him.

Edited June 2, 2008 by sidewinder

[king ubu]

I have "Keeper of the Flame" - very nice one, also on Nagel-Heyer.

R.i.p.

Here's the Telegraph's obituary:

Danny Moss

Last Updated: 10:39PM BST 01/06/2008

Self-taught jazz saxophonist whose distinctive style earned him an international reputation

Danny Moss, who died in Perth, Western Australia, on May 28 aged 80, was a tenor saxophonist much admired for his warm, gruff tone and forthright approach.

His entire working life was spent as a professional musician, and he played in all the famous bands of the 1950s; but it was not until the following decade, when he struck out on his own, that his distinctive style developed. He was one of the relatively few British jazz musicians with an international reputation.

Dennis "Danny" Moss was born at Redhill, Surrey, on August 16 1927, the son of a toolmaker. His childhood was spent on the south coast, in the Brighton-Worthing area, and he attended Steyning Grammar School. He was later able to recall the precise moment when jazz had entered his life: aged 13, he was on a family visit to the local cinema when a jazz band appeared briefly in a B-movie featuring the Bowery Boys. He was so taken with the clarinet playing that he swapped his ice skates, his most treasured possession, for a second-hand clarinet.

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Moss taught himself to play and later to read music, discovering that he had perfect pitch, enabling him instantly to reproduce any note he heard. He took up the tenor saxophone at school. On leaving, at the age of 16, he joined the band at Sherry's Ballroom in Brighton. Called up for National Service at 18, he spent three years in an RAF regional band, after which he joined the Vic Lewis Orchestra, one of Britain's most jazz-minded touring dance bands. Average pay was around £12 a week, which, he later recalled, "seemed like a fortune".

For the next few years Moss moved from band to band, always seeking out those, such as the bands of Basil Kirchin and Tommy Sampson, in which there was scope for a jazz soloist. Throughout the early 1950s the country's leading dance bands were constantly before the public, both in live performance and on the radio, and there was fierce competition for the best players. In an interview with Peter Vacher for Jazz Journal, Moss compared his situation at the time with that of a footballer today.

In this way, he passed through the Oscar Rabin Band and the Squadronaires until landing, in 1952, what he described as "the prestige job of all time", with Ted Heath and his Music: "You didn't talk money with Ted, you just knew it was going to be an awful lot – in old-fashioned fivers, those big white things, masses of them!"

Apart from the money, however, playing for Heath was not a happy experience. The music consisted mainly of vocals and "novelty" numbers, fearsomely well performed but dull. Even the jazz solos had to be exactly the same every night. When he left, after three years, Moss found that his skills as an improvising jazz musician had suffered.

He moved to the more congenial Geraldo band and thence, in 1957, to the adventurous, true jazz orchestra of John Dankworth. He can be seen with Dankworth in the 1958 film The 6.5 Special. This was when his characteristic style began to emerge.

Hitherto, Moss had been following the modern jazz fashion of the day for tenor saxophones, with a light, steely tone and fast-moving lines. His own inclination had always been towards the older, more fulsome sound and spacious phrasing, but he had not wanted to seem old-fashioned. Now, however, he began cautiously broadening his approach, and met with nothing but encouragement from Dankworth and the rest of the band.

The final stamp of approval came in 1959, when the Dankworth band visited America and was heard by Count Basie. Basie made a point of complimenting Moss and said: "That's real Texas tenor. That's the way it should sound! I wish some of the young guys would play that way."

Moss finally left Dankworth in 1962, when the band was close to finishing as a full-time institution. He joined Humphrey Lyttelton, with whom he could relax and luxuriate in his new-old style, and remained with his band for two years.

He was now faced with a hard decision. The only well-paid work for a musician was in the recording studios, which he could not face; but jazz, which he wanted to play, is notoriously ill-paid and insecure. In addition, he had just married the singer Jeanie Lambe. She proposed that they move out of London to Sussex, where they could live more cheaply, and devote themselves to jazz. Moss formed his own quartet, and, with a mixture of jazz clubs, festivals and BBC radio broadcasts, built a considerable reputation as a dynamic and entertaining soloist. He maintained that there was no formula for success beyond playing melodic and whole-hearted jazz.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s Moss toured widely, either with his quartet or as a guest soloist. He also recorded with the singers Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, Sarah Vaughan and Rosemary Clooney. He became a founder member of the Pizza Express All-Stars in 1980, and continued to play with them until the end of the decade. In 1984 Moss and Jeanie Lambe played a season in New York with the band of Bob Rosengarden.

After several working visits to Australia, the couple decided to move there permanently, settling in Perth in 1989. Paradoxically, their remoteness from Europe appeared to increase the demand for their appearances in this part of the world and they made long annual visits during the festival season.

In 1990 Moss signed a recording contract with the German label Nagel-Heyer, which ensured that some of his finest mature playing was preserved. The CDs Weaver Of Dreams and Jeanie Lambe and Danny Moss Live In Hamburg are particularly impressive. His duet recordings with the pianists Brian Lemon and Stan Tracey are also outstanding.

Danny Moss was appointed MBE in 1990.

He is survived by his wife and two sons.

[White Lightning]

R.I.P.

Moss was afine player. I loved his big sound.

I'll be spinning "Keeper of the Flame" today.

[Rosco]

A fine player and a sad loss.

Apparently, his final recordings were with Simon Spillett. I look forward to hearing them.

[JohnS]

This is sad news. We booked him to play at our local jazz club last October and though he was clearly not in the very best of health his playing was remarkably good with a great sound and lots of projection. We were hoping to have him back this autumn. A great shame.

[Peter Friedman]

The Danny Moss CDs mentioned - "Weaver Of Dreams" and "Keeper Of The Flame" are both good ones.

Here are some other worthy CDs by Danny Moss as leader:

Steamers - Nagel Heyer

Steam Power - Nagel Heyer

At Bob Barnard's Jazz Party 1999 - Nif Nuf

Returns To Bob Barnard's Jazz Party 2000 - Nif Nuf

Swings Again At Bob Barnard's Jazz Party 2003 - Nif Nuf