Johnny Moore (trumpeter)

Johnny "Dizzy" Moore (civil: John Arlington Moore , born October 5, 1938 in Kingston , † August 16, 2008 in Jamaica ) was an American trumpeter of Jamaican descent. He was a founding member of The Skatalites and worked with numerous artists in the ska and reggae genre. His trumpet playing influenced numerous musicians from the ska and reggae scene.

biography

Johnny Moore was born in Kingston and learned to play the trumpet at Alpha Boys School . In order to be accepted at the school, which actually only accepted problem children, he began to play pranks and behave improperly until his mother, who paid little attention to his musical education, was convinced to enroll him there.

At school he met his later bandmates and ska pioneers Don Drummond and Lester Sterling , as well as other great musicians in Jamaica, such as Rico Rodriguez . After Moore graduated, he first played in the Jamaica Military Band , where he was nicknamed Johnny Blow Blow . His early influences were jazz musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker . After three years, he was dishonorably discharged from the army. He then joined the Mapletoft Poulle Orchestra , but had to leave it because of his Rastafarian beliefs. He then joined several local bands until he launched the Skatalites in 1963 together with his former schoolmates. His band mates gave him the nickname Dizzy , which was based on his "dizzying" solos. He remained until the breakup in 1965, on the occasion of the imprisonment of Don Drummond, part of the group and also participated in the reunion in 1983. He was also a member of the successor band The Supersonics by Tommy McCook . Moore moved to New York City in the 1960s, but returned to Jamaica in the 1980s.

In addition to his engagement as a Skatalites member, he had a solo career and participated in numerous recordings and tours for other bands such as Bob Marley & The Wailers , Bunny Wailer and Lee Perry . He is also a founding member of The Jamaican All Stars . He is also considered the most sought-after musician on Clement Dodd's Studio One label .

Until his death in 2008, he remained with both the Skatalites and the Jamaican All Stars. On August 16, he died of cancer .

Discography

• see The Skatalites # discography

Individual evidence

1. ^ Obituary in the New York Times
2. ↑ ^{a b} Obituary in the Jamaica Observer ( memento of the original from September 18, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ Obituary on the official homepage of the Skatalites ( Memento of the original from September 13, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  

Web links

• Johnny Moore at Discogs (English)