Johnny Moore (trumpeter)

For other people named Johnny Moore, see Johnny Moore (disambiguation).

Johnny Moore
Birth name	John Arlington Moore
Also known as	Dizzy
Born	5 October 1938(1938-10-05)
Origin	Kingston, Jamaica
Died	16 August 2008(2008-08-16) (aged 69)
Genres	Ska, Rocksteady, Reggae
Instruments	Trumpet
Associated acts	The Skatalites Bunny Wailer Bob Marley

John Arlington "Dizzy" Moore OD was a Jamaican trumpet player and founding member of pioneering Jamaican ska and reggae act, The Skatalites.

Biography

A friend of his attended the Alpha Boys School, which catered for wayward boys and was renowned for its strong musical programme, and impressed by his playing, Moore decided on a strategy of misbehaving to get sent there himself, which worked after (he later claimed) pulling "a couple of pranks" to show that he was "going haywire".^[1][2] While at the school he took up the trumpet and studied musical composition under bandleader Ruben Delgado. On leaving the school, he joined the army, playing in the Jamaica Military Band. He was dismissed from the army after three years on a charge of being "not amenable to military service".^[1] He then joined the Mapletoft Poulle Orchestra, and Eric Dean's band, but was thrown out for growing dreadlocks.^[1] He regularly visited the Rastafarian camp led by Count Ossie at Wareika Hill, and worked as a session musician in the early 1960s, and played in studio band The Cavaliers.^[2] Moore and other Cavaliers members Jackie Mittoo, Lloyd Brevett, and Lloyd Knibbs then joined with Tommy McCook in the new band The Skatalites in 1964.^[1] When the Skatalites split into two bands in 1965, Moore joined the Soul Vendors, led by Roland Alphonso. The Skatalites reformed in 1983, with many of the original members, including Moore.

In October 2007, Moore was awarded the Order of Distinction in the Rank of Officer (OD) for pioneering work in popularising Jamaican music.^[3]

Moore died of colon cancer on August 16, 2008 at the age of 69.^[1][4]

Discography

With Bob Marley & The Wailers

• Wail'n Soul'm Singles Selecta

With Lee Perry

• Chicken Scratch

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Johnny Moore" (obit.), The Times, August 30, 2008
2. ^ ^{a b} Barrow, Steve & Dalton Peter (2004) "The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd edn.", Rough Guides, ISBN 1-84353-329-4
3. ^ "Artistes presented with national awards", Jamaica Observer, October 16, 2007
4. ^ Staff report (August 20, 2008). Johnny Moore, 70, Ska Trumpeter, Is Dead. Associated Press

External links

• Johnny Moore Interview by Jah Rebel

Persondata
Name	Moore, Johnny
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	October 5, 1938
Place of birth
Date of death	August 16, 2008
Place of death