Jemeel Moondoc

Jemeel Moondoc (* August 5, 1951 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American jazz alto saxophonist and soprano.

Life and work

Jemeel Moondoc plays strongly emphasized improvisation jazz in the tradition of Cecil Taylor and Ornette Coleman. He studied clarinet and piano before switching to the saxophone at age 16. During his studies he became interested in jazz and became a disciple of Cecil Taylor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He then moved to New York City, where he founded the Ensemble Muntu formation, which also included the musicians William Parker, Roy Campbell, Jr. and Rashid Bakr. 1977 was the first album of the group, First Feeding on Moondocs own label Muntu. He then worked with Ed Blackwell and Fred Hopkins ( " Judy 's Bounce " on Soul Note ), but also founded his The Jus Grew Orchestra ( with Bern Nix ) In the 1990s, he continued his collaboration with Parker on the album New World Pygmies (1998 ) continued. On the Vision Festival 2003, he and Connie Crothers occurred with a quintet. He also worked with Khan Jamal.