# Danny Moss > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Danny_Moss > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Danny_Moss.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Moss > Source revision: 1350816352 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Dennis Moss** (16 August 1927 – 28 May 2008)[2] was a British [jazz](/source/Jazz) tenor saxophonist. He performed with many figures in British jazz, including [Vic Lewis](/source/Vic_Lewis), [Ted Heath](/source/Ted_Heath_(bandleader)), [John Dankworth](/source/John_Dankworth), [Alex Welsh](/source/Alex_Welsh_(musician)), and [Humphrey Lyttelton](/source/Humphrey_Lyttelton).[1] ## Biography The son of a [toolmaker](/source/Tool_and_die_maker), Moss was born in [Redhill](/source/Redhill,_Surrey), Surrey in 1927.[3] His childhood was spent on the south coast, in the Brighton-Worthing area, and he attended [Steyning Grammar School](/source/Steyning_Grammar_School). At the age of 13, he saw a jazz band appear briefly in a [Bowery Boys](/source/The_Bowery_Boys) film on a family cinema visit, and was so inspired by the clarinet playing that he swapped his most valued possession, his ice skates, for a second-hand instrument of his own. He was self-taught on both this and the tenor saxophone, which he took up at school.[2] A spell of [National Service](/source/Conscription_in_the_United_Kingdom) at the age of 18 saw Moss performing for three years in a [Royal Air Force](/source/Royal_Air_Force) regional band. After leaving the forces he joined the [Vic Lewis Orchestra](/source/Vic_Lewis),[3] and in the next few years moved around various bands, especially ones with the potential for a [soloist](/source/Solo_(music)#Jazz). In 1952, he joined [Ted Heath](/source/Ted_Heath_(bandleader))'s band,[3] a well-paid role which he described as "the prestige job of all time". Soon, however, Moss found the group's focus on [novelty](/source/Novelty_song) numbers and faithful musical reproductions, including that of solos, to be limiting to his skills as an [improviser](/source/Musical_improvisation#Jazz_improvisation), and he left after three years.[2] In 1957, Moss joined [John Dankworth](/source/John_Dankworth)'s orchestra. Here, with the band's encouragement, he began to develop his characteristic saxophone sound, eschewing the contemporary focus on light tone and fast phrasing in favour of a thicker and more spacious sound. informed by American tenor saxophonists such as [Coleman Hawkins](/source/Coleman_Hawkins) and [Ben Webster](/source/Ben_Webster).[1] When the Dankworth band visited America, Moss' style was singled out for compliment by [Count Basie](/source/Count_Basie), who declared his playing "real [Texas](/source/Texas) tenor... the way it should sound!"[2] He left Dankworth's band in 1962, as the band itself was winding down. From here, he joined [Humphrey Lyttelton](/source/Humphrey_Lyttelton)'s group, where he continued to hone his style for another two years.[3] He then married jazz singer [Jeanie Lambe](/source/Jeanie_Lambe) on 6 January 1964,[3] and the couple moved from London to [Sussex](/source/Sussex) at her suggestion. Here, he formed his own quartet, playing a mix of club gigs, festival appearances and radio broadcasts for the [BBC](/source/BBC). He continued to tour with this quartet throughout the 1970s and 1980s, also playing and recording with American singers like [Tony Bennett](/source/Tony_Bennett), [Ella Fitzgerald](/source/Ella_Fitzgerald), [Bing Crosby](/source/Bing_Crosby), [Sarah Vaughan](/source/Sarah_Vaughan) and [Rosemary Clooney](/source/Rosemary_Clooney),[3] and appeared as a guest soloist with [Buck Clayton](/source/Buck_Clayton) on a Humphrey Lyttelton album, *Me And Buck* in 1963. He worked with [Louis Armstrong](/source/Louis_Armstrong) on his last British tour. Moss later co-founded British jazz "[supergroup](/source/Supergroup_(music))" Pizza Express All-Stars in 1980, playing with them until the end of the 1980s. Moss and Lambe moved to Perth, Western Australia in 1989, although Moss continued to play regularly in Europe.[1]According to his obituary in *[The Daily Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph)*, his distance from Europe only seemed to increase the level of demand for his performances there.[2] ## Illness and death In November 2005, he was diagnosed with pleural [mesothelioma](/source/Mesothelioma), a rare form of lung cancer caused by exposure to [asbestos](/source/Asbestos). He participated in a video produced by Phil Strachan for the Australian medical website Virtual Medical Centre where he was interviewed about his illness and [chemotherapy](/source/Chemotherapy) treatment. He died on 28 May 2008, aged 80, survived by Lambe and the couple's two sons.[2] ## Select discography - *Like Someone In Love* ([Columbia](/source/Columbia_Graphophone_Company) recorded c.1966) - *Good Life* (originally recorded for [77 Records](/source/77_Records) in 1968, reissue on [Progressive](/source/Progressive_Records), 1996) - *Undecided' The Brian Rutland Band* (Flyright Records 1980) - *Weaver of Dreams* ([Nagel-Heyer](/source/Nagel-Heyer_Records), 1994) - *A Swingin' Affair* (Nagel-Heyer, 1996) - *Steamers!* (Nagel-Heyer, 1999) - *Keeper of the Flame* (Nagel-Heyer, 2000) - *Steampower* (Nagel-Heyer, 2002) - *At University College Oxford* ([Maxjazz](/source/Maxjazz), 2003) - *Swings Again at the Jazz Party 2003* (Nifnuf, 2005) - *Fine and Dandy* (Nifnuf, 2005) - *Easy to Remember* (Nifnuf, 2006) - *Bob Barnard's Jazz Party 2006* (Nifnuf, 2006) ## References 1. Yanow, Scott. "Danny Moss". *[AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)*. Retrieved 7 June 2008. 1. ["Obituary: Danny Moss"](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/2062628/Obituary-Danny-Moss.html). *[The Daily Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph)*. 1 June 2008. Retrieved 7 June 2008. 1. [Colin Larkin](/source/Colin_Larkin_(writer)) (ed.) (1995). *[The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz](/source/Encyclopedia_of_Popular_Music)*. Second ed. [Guinness Publishing](/source/Guinness_Publishing). p. 342. ISBN 0-85112-674-X. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Danny Moss](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Moss) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Moss?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.