(pic from www.DMBand.com)Last night I was watching the news - a rare occasion - and was told by somebody with self-importance far beyond my grasp that LeRoi Moore had died. The stoic, shades-wearing horn man for the Dave Matthews Band passed away from complications in an ATV accident from over a month ago. Totally made me feel like a friend had been taken away.
You may not know him by name. But you probably do by sound.
LeRoi Moore was the sax player for the Dave Matthews Band. His ability to implement one note, slyly under the other members ("Don't Drink The Water"), or to drive a song into an air of hopeful urgency (Grey Street", this version recorded at The Gorge in 2002 - my last DMB show), was unlike any other playing I'd ever heard.
In the 20+ DMB shows I spent time at between 1998 and 2002, the different solos each member would play were always impressive. LeRoi could just lay it out there like a big blanket of sound, taking the nature of his instrument's tones and imparting them like a voice instead of a noise. It could send the strongest march of bumps up my spine, and made millions of hands raise in appreciation.
Thank you LeRoi, for sticking it out through those early gigs that probably were really rough, and giving it the gas on the big nights.
=0=000===00000=====0=00===
Take Me Home
My Blog About My Dad
