LeRoi was not a saxophonist of hellfire and brimstone, as has been the custom since Brecker. That’s not to say he wasn’t endowed with those gifts. He would much rather let an ember spark into a four-alarm blaze than blow up like a bomb from the first note.
This might be why he is so often overlooked as a titan of American music. To appreciate LeRoi requires commitment, a dedication to the journey. The slow burn of his playing was best suited for live shows, while the albums were geared towards radio expanding the audience.
In rare instances, though, he was allowed enough space on an album to really build momentum and energy. One such example is Proudest Monkey off the album Crash. The song is based on a kind of drone, an African circular rhythm, that lends itself to lengthy jams. The live versions are usually epic and include some of the best playing LeRoi ever did. It also helps that this solo is done on soprano saxophone, an instrument upon which his sound earns him a spot among the other soprano masters like Wayne Shorter, Branford Marsalis, and Steve Lacy (in my opinion).
This version of Proudest Monkey is one of the few times the width and breadth of LeRoi’s ability to build a solo is captured on record. As the band slowly builds into a frenzy, LeRoi maintains the thread of rhythmic ideas toyed with throughout. As the band reaches the climax (evidenced by some absolutely unreal playing by Carter Beauford), the genius of LeRoi Moore is evident. Listen to the rhythm section at 6:12. Everyone is playing full speed, not to mention one of the best drummers to ever live sitting behind a drumset bigger than my living room, cracking away at warp speed. Beauford starts thumping down on descending toms and at this point I’d be ready to explode.
Any other saxophonist, no, EVERY OTHER SAXOPHONIST ON EARTH including myself would be losing their damned minds at this point. I don’t think I’d be able to keep my fingers on the keys.
But that’s not what LeRoi does. He just sings these long, beautiful, round notes, over top of the energy buzzing underneath him. It’s like a kite flying above a tornado. It is beautiful and gorgeous and many other trite adjectives that always fail to properly describe music of this magnitude. Of course later he does start kicking ass (who wouldn’t, Carter Beauford on the drums!) but still with the kind of motivic ideas he started the solo.
I am astounded by its brilliance. It’s so simple. It’s the total opposite of every instinct. Maybe all of our instincts are wrong? Every time I listen to this it just takes my breath away. It’s chilling. I couldn’t love this anymore than I already do, it’s like THE LIST OF THINGS I LOVE THE MOST:
3. LeRoi Moore’s solo on Proudest Monkey
It’s like when people get so happy they cry, or so angry they laugh. It’s a crazy mix of conflicting musical experiences.
Dedicate a few minutes of your time to this (the video jumps straight to his solo). Go on this journey. If you liked it, go back and listen to the entire track in its entirety. It’s even more breathtaking in context.
“Monkey see, monkey do...”
