Today we’d like to introduce you to Don Moors.
Don, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve been a working musician for 55 years now. I didn’t start playing music to create great art (although I think I occasionally have) but because, as a young man, I wanted girls to pay attention to me. I eventually realized that it was my calling and have done nothing else for my entire adult life.
I began as a drummer as a child, took some piano lessons and realized – when I saw my first xylophone – that it was the perfect combination for me. Essentially playing piano with a drum technique.
In the Caribbean, all schools have Steel Pan ensembles so I had that exposure also.
At the age of 19, I bought my first vibraphone and never looked back.
It’s been an interesting ride. I attended college at Berklee in Boston and began putting my own bands together.
One of the downsides to being a mallet player is that few bands think to hire you so by necessity, I became a bandleader. I was fortunate in that during that period virtually all the major jazz artists were touring clubs and I could go to a club, buy one coke, and sit there all night listening to Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Ahmed Jamal, Dizzy Gillespie, etc. I got to know the giants close up.
Two things really made me a quality musician. I was fortunate enough to take lessons from Cal Trader while in my early 20’s and then — I actively sought out Randy Weston (one of the most important jazz pianists of the past 1/2 century) and the direct link between American Jazz and African music. He became my mentor and musical hero.
My playing style altered dramatically and became much more percussive and angular.
My personal bands reflected that and I began writing in earnest.
In 1970, I moved to the Bay Area, formed a band called Jump Street and did five nights a week for three years in the same club. On the same street with the then-unknown Al Jarreau, Pointer Sisters, Huey Lewis, and Sheila E.
A wonderful time to be in San Francisco.
In the mid-70s, I got a call to tour with Roberta Flack. Everyone kept saying, “move to L.A., get in the studios…”
So, I did. Move to L.A. that is. Getting in the studios was a little trickier. After about a year of struggling I had the good fortune of having a sub drummer show up on a birthday party, I had booked. It was James Gadson (a studio powerhouse) who liked me and started recommending me. Suddenly I was in the studios where I remained for a decade making R&B hits.
Subsequently, when technology made studio work nebulous I returned to the Caribbean to St. Croix, USVI.
My wife became a school principal, I worked constantly and everything was ideal.
When Barack Obama became President, I got it in my head that things would get so much better in the states that we should return. My wife was adamantly opposed and finally said, “If I walk away from a job I truly love, we go wherever I get the next job.” I agreed, assuming the next job would be back in California where I was connected. It was in Decatur, GA. And that’s why I’m in metro Atlanta. Riding out the back end of my lengthy career using my only skill sets -write, teach and play music.
Let’s make that I have no complaints. If I had it to do over, I’d do it again. (Hopefully with a few better choices, but essentially the same career path.)
When my wife finally retires in five years, we’ll likely return to St. Croix but, in the interim, here I am.
At the Airport every Sunday, with AJP whenever they have a gig and trying to supply some positive vibes wherever I go. As my old friend, Roy Ayers, said to me recently, “We’re both still feeling it.”
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There is no smooth road in the music industry. And luck has as much to do with it as talent does.
I was fortunate to be trained by giants. And I was mentored by the giants. There were times in my youth when opportunities were presented to me that I was not yet ready for. The worst thing that can happen to anyone is to have a door open and not be ready to walk through it. Stephen King said.” Success is a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Timing is in the laps of the Gods but you can get in the right place and wait.”
I lucked into the studios because someone gave me the chance but by then, fortunately, I was ready for it.
Jump Street was a wonderful band but came up during a time when music was still being categorized strictly.
I had jazz players, playing funk, with singers. Nobody knew how to market it and it finally fell apart. Later they discovered it was fusion. Timing matters…
A full-time music career is no joke. You have to be on it all the time. Unless you’re famous, the phone doesn’t ring. You ring it. I’ve spent more time chasing gigs than working. But it is what it is. Playing music is the easy part.
What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of as a company? What sets you apart from others?
I’m a jazz musician by training, with R&B background and Caribbean roots. Musically I’m all over the place and can provide whatever ambiance you’re looking for.
At this point, I’m known for being one of the survivors in a difficult industry.
I’m proud of the fact that I’m still bringing it as I mean it as an older person in a youth-oriented culture.
I’m known for being one of the best mallet players anywhere and I finally embrace that. I actually am.
When I finally leave this earth, I will have left a legacy of pleasure for an infinite number of people. I make my living making other people feel good for a little while with my music and and the recordings and DVDs let my grandchildren see & hear Grandpa for the rest of their lives. That’s a good deal all around.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I could give you a very extensive list but here’s a few:
Randy Weston – my mentor, my musical hero, and my spiritual guide. Died last year at 92, touring and playing piano all over the world. 51 albums still available.
Pamela Moors – my beautiful wife who came from a traditional family and had to adjust to my lifestyle and has been my rock for three decades.
Joachim Young — pianist for Jump Street (and a musical genius who died far too young). I’d write a tune, we’d play it, and his interpretation would so improve what I wrote that I’d go home and rewrite it to incorporate his spontaneous improvements. Eventually I learned to write like he did.
Craig Herndon – A native Georgian, drummer is my first college band, who made me stop noodling around and get serious about music. I learned more music history from Craig than anyone else. I spent 20 years trying to impress him.
And a partial list of people who actively encouraged me:
Alan Dawson
Herb Pomeroy
Cal Tjader
Eddie Harris
Charles Owens
Junior Cook
Cannonball Adderly]
Ahmad Jamal
Bennie Powell
Louis Gossett Jr.
David Rockefeller Jr.
Flip Wilson
Bonnie Bedelia
Miles Davis
Roy Ayers
Bobby Hutcherson
Bobby Martin
and many, many more…
Contact Info:
- Website: www.donmoors.com
- Email: ajabu86@yahoo.com
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