Don Moye


Famoudou Don Moye, is an American jazz percussionist and drummer. He is most known for his involvement with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and is noted for his mastery of African and Caribbean percussion instruments and rhythmic techniques.

Early life and education

Moye was born in Rochester, New York and performed in various drum and bugle corps during his youth, as well as church choir. Moye has commented that he really "didn't have an affinity for the bugle … and just kind of gravitated towards drums." He also took violin lessons during this time. Moye was exposed to jazz at an early age since his mother worked for a local social club that had a jazz club next door that hosted musicians such as Kenny Burrell and Jimmy McGriff. His family was also musically inclined; his uncles played saxophones and his father played drums. Also, his mother used to take him to various performances as a child, such as "opera under the stars" and to see Mahalia Jackson.

Career

Moye went on to study percussion at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Moye lived in a building with trumpeter Charles Moore, who became his mentor. Moye also played in the groups African Cultural Ensemble, which included musicians from African countries such as Ghana, and Detroit Free Jazz, which was Moore’s band. It was at this time that he first encountered the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians due to the revolving door of musicians in and out of Moore’s residence. In early 1968, Moore’s band traveled to Europe and Moye decided to live there for the next couple of years, touring and visiting the continent as well as Northern Africa.

Art Ensemble of Chicago and The Leaders

By 1969, the AEC had augmented into the percussion-less quartet of Roscoe Mitchell, Joseph Jarman, Lester Bowie and Malachi Favors Maghostut. The group crossed the Atlantic Ocean and arrived in Europe to perform throughout the continent. Moye at the time was rehearsing and performing in Paris, France, at the American Center for Students and Artists, where musicians such as Art Taylor and Johnny Griffin practiced collectively. When Mitchell met with Moye again at the Center, he asked Moye to join his group, which was already known as the Art Ensemble of Chicago and had issued several recordings including three releases on the European label BYG Actual. These recordings did feature percussion but all percussion was played by Mitchell, Bowie, Favors, or Jarman.
After Moye returned to the States in the early 1970s, he played with the Black Artists Group in St. Louis, Missouri before settling in the Chicago, Illinois area. He was also in a duo with fellow percussionist Steve McCall who later was a member of Air with Henry Threadgil while still playing with the AEC. In the mid-1980s, Moye joined The Leaders, a jazz group consisting of AEC member Bowie, Chico Freeman, Arthur Blythe, Cecil McBee, and Kirk Lightsey. Moye has also recorded numerous solo albums as leader of his own band. Moye toured and recorded again with the AEC in the 1990s, which was dealt a blow with the 1999 death of Bowie. Famadou Don Moye refers to his own style of drumming as "Sun Percussion". Other groups he led in the '90s include the Joseph Jarman/Famoudou Don Moye Magic Triangle Band and the Sun Percussion Summit, the latter of which was "a group dedicated to exploring the traditions of African-American percussion music."

Recognition

As leader

With the Art Ensemble of Chicago
TitleYearLabel
Chi-Congo1970Paula
Les Stances a Sophie1970Nessa
Live in Paris1970Freedom
Art Ensemble of Chicago with Fontella Bass1970America
Phase One1971America
Live at Mandell Hall1972Delmark
Bap-Tizum1972Atlantic
Fanfare for the Warriors1973Atlantic
Kabalaba1974AECO
Nice Guys1978ECM
Live in Berlin1979West Wind
Full Force1980ECM
Urban Bushmen1980ECM
Among the People1980Praxis
The Complete Live in Japan1984DIW
The Third Decade1984ECM
Naked1986DIW
Ancient to the Future1987DIW
The Alternate Express1989DIW
Art Ensemble of Soweto1990DIW
America - South Africa1990DIW
Thelonious Sphere Monk with Cecil Taylor1990DIW
Dreaming of the Masters Suite1990DIW
Live at the 6th Tokyo Music Joy1990DIW
Fundamental Destiny with Don Pullen1991AECO
Salutes the Chicago Blues Tradition1993AECO
Coming Home Jamaica1996Atlantic
Urban Magic1997Musica
Tribute to Lester2001ECM
Reunion2003Around Jazz/Il Manifesto
The Meeting2003Pi
Sirius Calling2004Pi
Non-Cognitive Aspects of the City2006Pi

With The Leaders
With Hamiet Bluiett
With Chico Freeman
With Julius Hemphill
With Joseph Jarman
With Cecil McBee
With Marcello Melis
With Don Pullen
With Wadada Leo Smith
With Randy Weston