Danny Moss
Encyclopedia
Dennis "Danny" Moss MBE
(16 August 1927 – 28 May 2008) was a British
jazz
tenor saxophonist
. He was known for playing with most of the high profile figures of British jazz, including Vic Lewis
, Ted Heath
, Johnny Dankworth
, Alex Welsh
, and Humphrey Lyttelton
.
, Moss was born in Redhill
, Surrey
in 1927. At the age of thirteen, he saw a jazz band appear briefly in a Bowery Boys
film on a family cinema visit, and was so inspired by the clarinet
playing that he swapped his most valued possession, his ice skate
s, for a second-hand instrument of his own. Self-taught
on both this and the tenor saxophone
, which he took up at school, he started playing professionally after leaving at the age of sixteen.
A spell of National Service
at the age of eighteen saw Moss performing for three years in a Royal Air Force
regional band. After leaving the forces he joined the Vic Lewis Orchestra
, and in the next few years moved around various bands, especially ones with the potential for a soloist. In 1952, he joined Ted Heath
's band, a well-paid role which he described as "the prestige job of all time". Soon, however, Moss found the group's focus on novelty
numbers and faithful musical reproductions, including that of solos, to be limiting to his skills as an improviser, and he left after three years.
In 1957 Moss joined John Dankworth
's orchestra. Here, with the band's encouragement, he began to develop his characteristic saxophone sound, eschewing the contemporary focus on light tone and fast phrasing in favour of a thicker and more spacious sound informed by American
pioneers such as Coleman Hawkins
and Ben Webster
. When the Dankworth band visited America, Moss' style was singled out for compliment by Count Basie
, who declared his playing "real Texas
tenor... the way it should sound!" He left Dankworth's band in 1962, as the band itself was winding down. From here, he joined Humphrey Lyttelton
's group, where he continued to hone his style for another two years.
He then married jazz singer Jeanie Lambe, and the two moved from London to Sussex
at her suggestion. Here, he formed his own quartet, playing a mix of club gigs, festival appearances and radio broadcasts for the BBC
. He continued to tour with this quartet throughout the 1970s and 1980s, also playing and recording with high-profile singers like Tony Bennett
, Ella Fitzgerald
, Bing Crosby
, Sarah Vaughan
and Rosemary Clooney
, and appearing as a guest soloist with American musicians such as Buck Clayton
in the mid-'60s and Louis Armstrong
on his last British tour. Moss also co-founded British jazz "supergroup
" Pizza Express All-Stars in 1980, playing with them until the end of the 1980s.
Moss and Lambe moved to Perth
, Australia
in 1989, although Moss continued to play regularly in Europe; indeed, his distance from Europe only seemed to increase the level of demand for his performances there. Moss was appointed MBE
in 1990.
In November 2005, he was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma, a rare form of lung cancer
caused by exposure to asbestos
. He participated in a video for the Australian medical website Virtual Medical Centre where he was interviewed about his illness and chemotherapy
treatment. He died on 28 May 2008, survived by Lambe and the couple's two sons one whose name is 'Danny Junior'.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(16 August 1927 – 28 May 2008) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
tenor saxophonist
Tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
. He was known for playing with most of the high profile figures of British jazz, including Vic Lewis
Vic Lewis
Vic Lewis was a British jazz guitarist and bandleader.Lewis began playing the guitar at the age of three, and dabbled with cornet and trombone. One of his early bands included George Shearing, then a teenager, among its members...
, Ted Heath
Ted Heath (bandleader)
Ted Heath, musician and big band leader, led Britain's greatest post-war big band recording more than 100 albums and selling over 20 million records...
, Johnny Dankworth
John Dankworth
Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE , known in his early career as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist and clarinetist...
, Alex Welsh
Alex Welsh
Alex Welsh was a Scottish jazz musician, who played the cornet, trumpet and sang.-Biography:Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Welsh started playing in the teenage 'Leith Silver Band' and gigged with Archie Semple's 'Capital Jazz Band'. After moving to London in the early 1950s, Welsh formed his own band...
, and Humphrey Lyttelton
Humphrey Lyttelton
Humphrey Richard Adeane Lyttelton , also known as Humph, was an English jazz musician and broadcaster, and chairman of the BBC radio comedy programme I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue...
.
Biography
The son of a toolmakerTool and die maker
Tool and die makers are workers in the manufacturing industry who make jigs, fixtures, dies, molds, machine tools, cutting tools , gauges, and other tools used in manufacturing processes...
, Moss was born in Redhill
Redhill, Surrey
Redhill is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead, Surrey, England and is part of the London commuter belt. Redhill and the adjacent town of Reigate form a single urban area.-History:...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
in 1927. At the age of thirteen, he saw a jazz band appear briefly in a Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys were fictional New York City characters who were the subject of feature films released by Monogram Pictures from 1946 through 1958....
film on a family cinema visit, and was so inspired by the clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
playing that he swapped his most valued possession, his ice skate
Ice skate
Ice skates are boots with blades attached to the bottom, used to propel the bearer across a sheet of ice. They are worn as footwear in many sports, including ice hockey, bandy and figure skating. The first ice skates were made from leg bones of horse, ox or deer, and were attached to feet with...
s, for a second-hand instrument of his own. Self-taught
Autodidacticism
Autodidacticism is self-education or self-directed learning. In a sense, autodidacticism is "learning on your own" or "by yourself", and an autodidact is a person who teaches him or herself something. The term has its roots in the Ancient Greek words αὐτός and διδακτικός...
on both this and the tenor saxophone
Tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
, which he took up at school, he started playing professionally after leaving at the age of sixteen.
A spell of National Service
Conscription in the United Kingdom
Conscription in the United Kingdom has existed for two periods in modern times. The first was from 1916 to 1919, the second was from 1939 to 1960, with the last conscripted soldiers leaving the service in 1963...
at the age of eighteen saw Moss performing for three years in a Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
regional band. After leaving the forces he joined the Vic Lewis Orchestra
Vic Lewis
Vic Lewis was a British jazz guitarist and bandleader.Lewis began playing the guitar at the age of three, and dabbled with cornet and trombone. One of his early bands included George Shearing, then a teenager, among its members...
, and in the next few years moved around various bands, especially ones with the potential for a soloist. In 1952, he joined Ted Heath
Ted Heath (bandleader)
Ted Heath, musician and big band leader, led Britain's greatest post-war big band recording more than 100 albums and selling over 20 million records...
's band, a well-paid role which he described as "the prestige job of all time". Soon, however, Moss found the group's focus on novelty
Novelty song
A novelty song is a comical or nonsensical song, performed principally for its comical effect. Humorous songs, or those containing humorous elements, are not necessarily novelty songs. The term arose in Tin Pan Alley to describe one of the major divisions of popular music. The other two divisions...
numbers and faithful musical reproductions, including that of solos, to be limiting to his skills as an improviser, and he left after three years.
In 1957 Moss joined John Dankworth
John Dankworth
Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE , known in his early career as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist and clarinetist...
's orchestra. Here, with the band's encouragement, he began to develop his characteristic saxophone sound, eschewing the contemporary focus on light tone and fast phrasing in favour of a thicker and more spacious sound informed by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
pioneers such as Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Randolph Hawkins was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Hawkins was one of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument. As Joachim E. Berendt explained, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn"...
and Ben Webster
Ben Webster
Benjamin Francis Webster , a.k.a. "The Brute" or "Frog," was an influential American jazz tenor saxophonist. Webster, born in Kansas City, Missouri, was considered one of the three most important "swing tenors" along with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young...
. When the Dankworth band visited America, Moss' style was singled out for compliment by Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
, who declared his playing "real Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
tenor... the way it should sound!" He left Dankworth's band in 1962, as the band itself was winding down. From here, he joined Humphrey Lyttelton
Humphrey Lyttelton
Humphrey Richard Adeane Lyttelton , also known as Humph, was an English jazz musician and broadcaster, and chairman of the BBC radio comedy programme I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue...
's group, where he continued to hone his style for another two years.
He then married jazz singer Jeanie Lambe, and the two moved from London to Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
at her suggestion. Here, he formed his own quartet, playing a mix of club gigs, festival appearances and radio broadcasts for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. He continued to tour with this quartet throughout the 1970s and 1980s, also playing and recording with high-profile singers like Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
, Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
, Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century."...
and Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House" written by William Saroyan and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian , which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me" Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 –...
, and appearing as a guest soloist with American musicians such as Buck Clayton
Buck Clayton
Buck Clayton was an American jazz trumpet player who was a leading member of Count Basie’s "Old Testament" orchestra and a leader of mainstream-oriented jam session recordings in the 1950s. His principal influence was Louis Armstrong...
in the mid-'60s and Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
on his last British tour. Moss also co-founded British jazz "supergroup
Supergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
" Pizza Express All-Stars in 1980, playing with them until the end of the 1980s.
Moss and Lambe moved to Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in 1989, although Moss continued to play regularly in Europe; indeed, his distance from Europe only seemed to increase the level of demand for his performances there. Moss was appointed MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1990.
In November 2005, he was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma, a rare form of lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
caused by exposure to asbestos
Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
. He participated in a video for the Australian medical website Virtual Medical Centre where he was interviewed about his illness and chemotherapy
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....
treatment. He died on 28 May 2008, survived by Lambe and the couple's two sons one whose name is 'Danny Junior'.
Select discography
- Weaver of Dreams (Nagel-Heyer, 1994)
- Good Life (Progressive, 1996)
- A Swingin' Affair (Nagel-Heyer, 1996)
- Steamers! (Nagel-Heyer, 1999)
- Keeper of the Flame (Nagel-Heyer, 2000)
- Steampower (Nagel-Heyer, 2002)
- At University College Oxford (Macjazz, 2003)
- Swings Again at the Jazz Party 2003 (Nifnuf, 2005)
- Fine and Dandy (Nifnuf, 2005)
- Easy to Remember (Nifnuf, 2006)
- Bob Barnard's Jazz Party 2006 (Nifnuf, 2006)
External links
- Danny Moss: Jazz Saxophonist and Chemotherapy Patient hosted at Virtual Medical CentreVirtual Medical CentreVirtual Medical Centre is a provider of health information, education and services for consumers and health professionals via the internet. The company was founded in 2001 as Virtual Cancer Centre...