Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Big Chief Russell Moore was a Pima American Indian born on August 13, 1912 in Komatke, Arizona and lived in Blue Island, Illinois from age twelve, where he studied trumpet, piano, drums, French horn, and trombone. Moving to Los Angeles, California in the early 1930s, he worked freelance with Lionel Hampton, Eddie Barefield, and others. Departing Los Angeles for New Orleans, Louisiana in 1939, he worked with Oscar Celestin, Kid Rena, A.J. Piron, Paul Barbarin, Ernie Fields, Harlan Leonard, and Noble Sissle.

He played with Louis Armstrong’s last big band from 1944 to ‘47, then worked freelance on the Dixieland jazz circuit. The 1950s saw him playing with Ruby Braff, Pee Wee Russell, Eddie Condon, Wild Bill Davison, Jimmy McPartland, Tony Parenti, Mezz Mezzrow, Sidney Bechet, and Buck Clayton. He returned to play in the Louis Armstrong All-Stars in 1964–65, but fell ill and had to leave the group. After recovering he led a Dixieland group of his own, which toured Canada repeatedly.

He worked with pianist Eddie Wilcox shortly before Wilcox died in 1968, then played with Cozy Cole in 1977 and Keith Smith in 1981. Trombonist Big Chief Russell Moore, who recorded as a leader for Vogue, Trutone, and Jazz Art record labels, passed away in Nyack, New York on December 15, 1983.

More Posts: bandleader,history,instrumental,jazz,music,trombone