Pee Wee Moore

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

Not to be confused with Sol Moore.
Pee Wee Moore in the Seventies
Pee Wee Moore as a young man
Pee Wee Moore in 2008

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. 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.
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