At the age of 84, James Moody may be the oldest musician performing at the 38th annual Stanford Jazz Festival, which he opens on Friday at Dinkelspiel Auditorium. But there's not a player on the festival's program with a more youthful spirit.
In a career stretching back to the mid-1940s, when he first gained attention in Dizzy Gillespie's ridiculously talented bebop orchestra (his bandmates included Thelonious Monk, Milt Jackson, Kenny Clarke and Ray Brown), Moody has distinguished himself as a devoted student of the music. In other words, he's the ideal person to kick off an event that flows from the educational mission of the Stanford Jazz Workshop.
“When you stop growing, you're finished," Moody says, making a statement that could be his personal motto.
His physical vigor has abetted his constant quest to learn and improve as a musician. Moody is fit enough that last year he completed an arduous 10-week, 55-date tour with the Monterey Jazz Festival 50th Anniversary Band, traveling across the continent by bus. His work habits left illustrious colleagues half his age, such as trumpeter Terence Blanchard and pianist Benny Green, marveling at his mental and physical stamina.
“Moody would seem to be the one who could most easily rest on his laurels," says Blanchard, 47. “But he was the most driven, dedicated, practicing musician on the tour. Every day he'd have some kind of music book, reading it page after page. As soon as we checked in, you'd hear him practicing saxophone or flute."
Green, who accompanies Moody on Friday with bassist John Wiitala and drummer Akira Tana, was already well acquainted with the saxophonist before the cross-country sojourn. They first met in Japan, when the pianist was a member of the Ray Brown Trio. Green is quick to note that Moody is universally admired first as a big-hearted, spiritually grounded person.
“He's always talked with me a lot about life and his experiences, wanting the best for me," Green says. “He made it clear he wanted me to realize my potential on and off the bandstand."
Though they were close before the Monterey Band tour, even Green came away mightily impressed by Moody's seemingly infinite inventiveness and his generosity as a performer.
In a career stretching back to the mid-1940s, when he first gained attention in Dizzy Gillespie's ridiculously talented bebop orchestra (his bandmates included Thelonious Monk, Milt Jackson, Kenny Clarke and Ray Brown), Moody has distinguished himself as a devoted student of the music. In other words, he's the ideal person to kick off an event that flows from the educational mission of the Stanford Jazz Workshop.
“When you stop growing, you're finished," Moody says, making a statement that could be his personal motto.
His physical vigor has abetted his constant quest to learn and improve as a musician. Moody is fit enough that last year he completed an arduous 10-week, 55-date tour with the Monterey Jazz Festival 50th Anniversary Band, traveling across the continent by bus. His work habits left illustrious colleagues half his age, such as trumpeter Terence Blanchard and pianist Benny Green, marveling at his mental and physical stamina.
“Moody would seem to be the one who could most easily rest on his laurels," says Blanchard, 47. “But he was the most driven, dedicated, practicing musician on the tour. Every day he'd have some kind of music book, reading it page after page. As soon as we checked in, you'd hear him practicing saxophone or flute."
Green, who accompanies Moody on Friday with bassist John Wiitala and drummer Akira Tana, was already well acquainted with the saxophonist before the cross-country sojourn. They first met in Japan, when the pianist was a member of the Ray Brown Trio. Green is quick to note that Moody is universally admired first as a big-hearted, spiritually grounded person.
“He's always talked with me a lot about life and his experiences, wanting the best for me," Green says. “He made it clear he wanted me to realize my potential on and off the bandstand."
Though they were close before the Monterey Band tour, even Green came away mightily impressed by Moody's seemingly infinite inventiveness and his generosity as a performer.
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