Moody’s Mood For Love is a lilting instrumental rollercoaster ride of soulful expression. It evolved from a solo improvised by James Moody in the tune I’m In The Mood For Love. That improvisation became an entity all its own after it was played for the first time in 1949 and then it was glazed beautifully by the lyrics gifted to it by vocalist Eddie Jefferson, becoming an enhanced hit three years later. It was kind of a beautiful creative habit; Jefferson also wrote lyrics to improvisations of other popular tunes.
His end-of-life was tragic, he was shot dead in 1979 in an altercation outside of a Detroit establishment after a gig. To jazz vocals, he was like a kind of Santa magician. He ruled as a vocalize artist. A fan of the saxophone, he recognized a quality in the instrument’s sound that was similar to qualities in the human voice. His vocal soundscape was a sax-o-phonic wonderland. He gave improvised melody language gifting the instrumental expressions new dynamics and highlights in the brilliance that is the colorful spectrum… jazz!