There is no better song for celebrating Valentine’s Day than the great romantic jazz song, James Moody’s "Moody’s Mood for Love." It's a classic song always in rotation with jazz artists, and constantly taken on by pop acts like Amy Winehouse and Queen Latifah, whose version Moody loved.
I had the privilege of hearing James Moody perform at the Cultch in Vancouver back in the 1990s, and was struck by how generous and funny a man he was. He alternated between playing flute and tenor sax with the occasional vocal thrown in for musical and comedic effect. And boy, he sure was a mother of a tenor sax player.
As accomplished as Moody was on the saxophone, it’s that quirky song called Moody’s Mood for Love that he will always be remembered for.
The song is essentially an improvised jazz solo based on “I’m in the Mood for Love,” a popular song written by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields. Moody says the song came about in a 1949 recording session in Sweden while he was struggling to find the right notes on a borrowed alto sax.
But the song really took flight after it was given lyrics by Eddie Jefferson, with one of his trademark “vocalese” lyric treatments of Moody’s improvised solo. King Pleasure was the first to record the song with the words. Queen Latifah's take was a favourite of James Moody’s.
Here’s James Moody himself, confusingly introduced by Dizzy Gillespie, someone who was known to clown around every bit as much as Moody.
For one last taste, check out Amy Winehouse who brings her own sound to this number.
Related links:
Stories and standards: Amy Winehouse, Billie Holiday and 'Body and Soul'
Grammy nominee Terri Lyne Carrington's beautiful mosaic
The jazz community welcomes you to CBC Music
posted by
Michael Juk
on Feb 13, 2012