Brew Moore

Though not as well-known as some of the other “cool school” tenor saxophonists partially due to his relatively brief career, Milton “Brew” Moore was nonetheless an insider of both the bebop and West Coast cool jazz scenes. Stylistically, Moore was one of the most devoted disciples of Lester Young, even holding his instrument at roughly the same unorthodox angle as Young did as he played. Starting his career in territory big bands, Moore lived in New Orleans and Memphis before coming to New York in the mid-1940s. His first recordings were in Claude Thornhill’s big band and as a guest with Machito and his Afro-Cubans, as well as his debut as a leader, a quartet session for Savoy in 1948. In 1949 he recorded on a five-tenor Prestige session with Stan Getz, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims and Allen Eager. Around this time Moore often performed with Charlie Parker and Miles Davis, though he never made studio recordings with either. In 1953 he played on guitarist Chuck Wayne’s debut recording as a leader, one of the first albums recorded at a href="/https://jazzleadsheets.com/rudy-van-gelder-recording/hackensack.html">Rudy Van Gelder’s living-room studio in Hackensack, New Jersey.

In the mid-‘50s, Moore moved to San Francisco, where he played in vibraphonist Cal Tjader’s quintet alongside pianist Sonny Clark. During this time, Moore became friends with Beat Generation poets such as Jack Kerouac and Kenneth Rexroth. By 1961 Moore moved again, this time to Copenhagen, Denmark where he would remain for the rest of his life. Some of his later recordings feature fellow expats Don Byas, Bud Powell, Kenny Drew, and Sahib Shihab.