Sax player in Dave Matthews Band has diedLeRoi Moore, 46, died from complications of June ATV crash
LeRoi Moore, the versatile saxophonist whose signature staccato fused jazz and funk overtones onto the eclectic sound of the Dave Matthews Band, died Tuesday of complications from injuries he suffered in an all-terrain vehicle accident, the band said. He was 46.
Moore died at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was admitted with complications that arose weeks after the June 30 wreck, according to a statement on the band’s Web site. It did not specify what led to his death, and nursing supervisor Galina Shinder said the hospital could not release details.
On June 30, Moore crashed his ATV on his farm outside Charlottesville, Va., but was discharged and returned to his Los Angeles home to begin physical therapy. Complications forced him back to the hospital on July 17, the band said.
The band went on with its show Tuesday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where lead singer Dave Matthews acknowledged Moore’s death to the crowd after the first song.
“It’s always easier to leave than be left,” Matthews told the crowd, according to Ambrosia Healy, the band’s publicist. “We appreciate you all being here.”
Saxophonist Jeff Coffin, who played with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, had been sitting in for Moore during the band’s summer tour.
Moore, who wore dark sunglasses at the bands’ many live concerts, had classical training but said jazz was his main musical influence, according to a biography on the band’s Web site.
“But at this stage I don’t really consider myself a jazz musician,” Moore said in the biography. Playing with the Dave Matthews Band was “almost better than a jazz gig,” he said. “I have plenty of space to improvise, to try new ideas.”
Lead singer Dave Matthews credited Moore with arranging many of his songs, which combine Cajun fiddle-playing, African-influenced rhythms and Matthews’ playful but haunting voice.
The band formed in 1991 in Charlottesville, Va., when Matthews was working as a bartender. He gave a demo tape of his songs to Moore, who liked what he heard and recruited his friend and fellow jazzman Carter Beauford to play drums, and other musicians.
The group broke out of the local music scene with the album “Under the Table and Dreaming.” The band won a Grammy Award in 1997 for its hit song “So Much to Say” off its second album “Crash.” Other hits include “What Would You Say,” “Crash Into Me” and “Satellite.”
*Story appears courtesy of the 2008 Associated Press*
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I'm working on a 'Los Angeles update' blog post, but this kind of takes precedence for me right now.
I know the "cool thing" is to bash the band & just write them off as hippie college rock, but I obviously am a huge fan and have been for a very long time.
No, I'm not wearing black for a week or taking the day off of work or over-blowing anything out of proportion & going all crazy fan-boy - I'm just genuinely sad that a really talented musician is gone.
This sucks.
On August 28, Davenport's Harrison Hilltop Theatre debuts its presentation of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire.
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