Pee Wee Moore

Pee Wee Moore in the Seventies

Pee Wee Moore as a young man

Pee Wee Moore in 2008

Numa Smith "Pee Wee" Moore (b. March 5, 1928, Raleigh, North Carolina, d. April 13, 2009) was an American jazz saxophonist.^[1]

Moore attended the Hampton Institute in Virginia as a pre-med student where he switched his major 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.^[2]

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.^[2]

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.^[2]

Moore has often been confused with Sol Moore, also called "Pee Wee", who also played with Dizzy Gillespie. This Pee Wee Moore played with the Jeter-Pillars Orchestra, recorded with Floyd Ray late in the 1930s, and worked with Gillespie in the Les Hite big band in 1939-42 before recording with Gilliespie's ensemble in 1946-47.^[2]

List of Albums With Credits to Moore ^[3]

Year	Album	Album Artist
1950	Bebop Singers [1999]	Various Artists
1950	Dizzy's Diamonds: The Best of Verve Years	Dizzy Gillespie
1952	Moodsville	James Moody
1954	Moody's Workshop	James Moody
1954	Moody's Mood	James Moody
1954	Moody	James Moody
1954	Compact Jazz: Dizzy Gillespie	Dizzy Gillespie
1955	James Moody and His Band	James Moody
1955	Hi Fi Party	James Moody
1955	Wail, Moody, Wail	James Moody
1955	Moody's Mood for Blues	James Moody
1956	Return from Overbrook	James Moody
1956	Flute 'N Blues	James Moody
1957	Live At Newport, 1957	Dizzy Gillespie

References

1. ^ Zagier, Alan Scher. News and Observer (Durham, NC). "Jazzman doesn’t sing the blues." 2/22/1999
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Zagier, ALan Scher. News and Observer (Durham, NC). "Jazzman doesn’t sing the blues." 2/22/1999
3. ^ From All Music Guide: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p220630

External links

• Images from the Pee Wee Moore Memorial Concert (June 2009) in Flickr
• Jazz Archive at Duke University
• Pee Wee Moore Papers at Duke University

Persondata
Name	Moore, Pee Wee
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Date of death	April 13, 2009
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