Tomorrow morning I leave for destinations east. Back to Charlottesville, with a brief stop in Winchester, VA to lecture about LeRoi at the International Saxophone Symposium.
In my years of playing and teaching I’ve often taken it upon myself to preach the gospel of LeRoi Moore. Many people are just unaware of his talents, and I get that. There are thousands of players out there; if you’re a jazz musician you spend your life checking out a never-ending avalanche of records. Others are outright dismissive. He suffers from being popular and creative - you have to invest yourself in LeRoi’s playing. It’s a stock a lot of people think is below them.
Still I would gladly take the time to talk to those who would listen. The saxophone community at large has been pretty supportive, if my lecture schedule is any indication.
But if I’m being completely honest, I’m feeling a lot of disappointment. And part of me feels like I’m being selfish and I shouldn’t.
Let me explain - I didn’t start this project to meet the band. I’ve never been one to worship at the altar of celebrity, and you can call bull if you like but if Dave Matthews was the local host of singer/songwriter night downtown, jumping up there to play Lover Lay Down before thirty other guys/gals with guitars play their stuff, I’d be just as moved. The same with LeRoi, and I said as much to people who would listen. Had LeRoi Moore never played beyond Charlottesville I still would have been smitten with his playing. Now, you could argue that my odds of hearing him decrease quite a bit if he’s not achieved that level of fame. I can concede that.
I guess my point is that my motives are pure. I don’t want a free t-shirt. I’m not making any money off this thing (quite the contrary). This is a passion project. I’m doing this because if not for LeRoi who knows where I would be right now. When he passed there was an obligation I felt to honor his inspiration, but I didn’t know how until this opportunity came around. So I jumped on it.
Let me say also - I have talked to a lot of people, and I have more information than I could have ever dreamed. I know so much more about a person who I idolized than I ever thought I would, and I am incredibly grateful.
I guess I thought, once the project got out there and people knew about it, that I would get to talk to someone who played with him for nearly twenty years. I went into this with no expectations but I was fooling myself I suppose. I thought if my motives were pure, people would talk to me, no matter the fame or celebrity. I was wrong. It’s crunch time now, and my chances are fading. Repeated interview requests have been met with silence. One of the guys I interviewed, Sal Soghoian, told me to ask other musicians to reach out on my behalf. I told him I was VERY uncomfortable trading on personal relationships I had just built. He said “No, you have to. Sometimes you have to and now is the time.” So I did, briefly, and I’m feeling really self-conscious about it.
I guess my point is this - I have been lauding the works of LeRoi Moore for years, and defending his place as my favorite saxophonist. I’m used to pleading my case. The silence feels like a judgement, maybe not an outright condemnation, but that it’s not important. And you know what? Maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s only important to me.
Sorry for the rant - the closer I get to the end the weirder things seem to get.
2087
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