Dudley Moore...
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Dudley Moore...
Dudley Moore 1960s

A number of CDs are available of recordings by the Dudley Moore Trio. Some contain comedy items, with or without Peter Cook and others are not necessarily jazz. Some are compilations using tracks from a number of LPs...


Pianist Dudley Moore was born in Dagenham, Essex in 1935. He studied music at the Guildhall School of Music, and Magdalen College, Oxford. His musical idol was Erroll Garner and he wanted to play in the same style, an ambition that fell by the wayside somewhat when he became a professional musician in 1959 and joined Vic Lewis. He worked briefly with Johnny Dankworth in 1960. Vic Lewis later signed Dudley Moore as a client when Lewis quit bandleading to become a showbusiness agent.
Moore formed his first trio in 1960 which he continued to work and record with until the late 1960s despite becoming heavily involved in the theatre both as a musician and performer. He was a successful comedian and actor on British TV and then starred in a number of Hollywood films through to the 1990s.

Throughout his career he took time to record albums with his trio, almost as if jazz could be some sort of leisure activity squeezed in between a celebrity lifestyle. He was always a brilliant jazz pianist and in the 1990s made a number of tour appearances in Britain.

Although he was eventually lost to the full time jazz world Dudley Moore is widely regarded as being among the finest jazz artists Britain has produced. His trio developed cohesively into a world class jazz piano trio, as can be heard on the two albums recorded in the mid-1960s by Decca, Genuine Dud and The Other Side Of Dudley Moore. The latter, first released in 1966, is a true classic and illustrates the breadth and depth of the musical mind that lay behind the comic persona. He died of a progressive nerve disease in 2002.

Johnny Dankworth Orchestra - July 1st and 5th, 1960 (The criminal - Roulette/Columbia SEG8037*)
Dickie Hawdon, Kenny Wheeler, Gus Galbraith (tp), Tony Russell, Eddie Harvey, Ian McDougall (tb), Ron Snyder (tu), Johnny Dankworth, Peter King (as), Danny Moss, Art Ellefson (ts), George Tyndale (bs), Dudley Moore (p), Spike Heatley (b), Kenny Clare (d).
Moanin'#/Riverside Stomp*/Freedom Walk*/After The Party*/Treasure Drive*.
A fifth title was recorded about this time - African Waltz#. For this Johnny Scott (f,pic) was added, Ronnie Stephenson replaced Kenny Clare and Ron Snyder was out.
(#EMI 2 CD set - The Best Of Johnny Dankworth)

Dudley Moore Trio - early 1961 (Parlophone R4772)
Dudley Moore (p), Hugo Boyd (b), Derek Hogg (d).
Strictly For The Birds*/Duddly Dell.
(*Acrobat CD - British Modern Jazz Singles, EP tracks & Rarities 1960 - 62)

Dudley Moore Trio - August, 1962 (From Beyond the Fringe - Atlantic)
Dudley Moore (p), Pete McGurk (b), Chris Karan (d).
Just In Time/Chicago/What's New/Theme From "Beyond The Fringe"/I Didn't Know What Time It Was/I Love Paris/Just One Of Those Things/I Get A Kick Out Of You/Don't Know Yet.

Jazz musician and writer Simon Spillett said of this album: "This is a true classic and illustrates the breadth and depth of the musical mind that lay behind the comic persona. "My Blue Heaven" and "Baubles, Bangles and Beads" are out-and-out groovers, smack in the middle of the great piano trio tradition, but Moore's own compositions take in a far wider trawl for inspiration and influence. "Lysie Does It" would not sit too awkwardly on an Andrew Hill album; "Poova Nova" is bossa nova lounge music as only a performer from the 1960s could envisage it, whilst "Sooz Blues" takes its cue from the unexpected resource of John Coltrane's "Equinox". The ballad "Sad One For George" is among Moore's greatest compositions, touching upon the melancholy of Bill Evans, and it is Evans who the trio evoke explicitly in its rearrangement of the old Dixieland warhorse "Indiana", surely one of the most brilliant transformations of a standard tune imaginable..."
Dudley Moore Trio - 1965 (The other side of Dudley Moore - Decca LK4732)
Dudley Moore (p), Pete McGurk (b), Chris Karan (d).
My Blue Heaven*/Lysie Does It/Poova Nova/Take Your Time/Indiana/Sooz Blooz*/Baubles, Bangles And Beads/Sad One For George*/Autumn Leaves.
(*Martine Avenue CD - Jazz Blues & Moore)

Dudley Moore Trio - 1966 (Genuine Dud - Decca LK4788)
Dudley Moore (p), Pete McGurk (b), Chris Karan (d).
I Love You Samantha/Yesterdays*/Field Day For Shirley/Straight Life*/Exactly Like You*/If You Were The Only Girl In The World*/You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To*/Blues For Boots*/Fly Me To The Moon.
(*Martine Avenue CD - Jazz Blues & Moore)

Dudley Moore Trio + others - 1968 (Bedazzled - Decca (S)LK4923)
Dudley Moore (p), Pete McGurk (b), Chris Karan (d). The following musicians each appear on one title only: Jock Bain (tb-1), Harry Klein (bs-1), Roy Willox (f-2), Bob Efford (ts-3), John Sharp (vln-2).
Main Title/Moon Time/Strip Club(1)/Italy/The Leaping Nun's Chorus/GPO Tower/Love Me/Bedazzled/The Millionaire(2)/Sweet Mouth/Cornfield/Goodbye George(3)/Lilian Lust.
(*Harkit CD - Bedazzled)

Dudley Moore Trio - c1968 (The Dudley Moore Trio - Decca (S)LK4976)
Dudley Moore (p), Jeff Clyne (b), Chris Karan (d).
Fanfare/120 Plus.../Love Song.../Bag Of Chris/Pop And Circumstance/Romantic Notion/Folk Song/Amalgam/Nursery Tune/Hymn.

Dudley Moore Trio - c1968 (The music of Dudley Moore - Decca SKL4980)
Dudley Moore (p), Jeff Clyne (b), Chris Karan (d).
Hello Sailor/Rupert Street Concerto/Madrigal/Mating Cry/Detective/Head First/Legend/Cynthia/Newsreel Ouverture/Waltz For Susie/Real Stuff/Thirty Is a Dangerous Age Cynthia.

Dudley Moore Trio - c1968 (Decca F12882)
Dudley Moore (p), Jeff Clyne (b), Chris Karan (d).
Gently/Keep It Up.

Dudley Moore Trio - recorded Sydney, Australia, cJanuary, 1971 (Today - Atlantic K40397)
Dudley Moore (p), Peter Morgan (b), Chris Karan (d).
The More I See You*/Waterloo/Before Love Went Out Of Style*/The Look Of Love/Song For Suzy/Two For The Road/Robyn's Blues*/The Staircase.
(*Cherry Red CD - Today)

Dudley Moore Trio - c1976 (At the Wavendon Festival - Black Lion BLP 12151)
Dudley Moore (p), Peter Morgan (b), Chris Karan (d).
I Should Care*/Two for The Road/Chimes/Amalgam/Yesterdays*/You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To*/Cornfield/Waltz For Suzie/And The Same To You/Horizon/Morning Walk.
(*Martine Avenue CD - Jazz Jubilee)

Dudley Moore Trio - recorded Sydney, Australia, May 2nd, 1978 (Dudley down Under - Cube ICS1003)
Dudley Moore (p), Peter Morgan (b), Chris Karan (d).
Love Walked In*/Here's That Rainy Day*/Prelude/Georgia*/The Young Prince And The Young Princess*/Tricotism*/Autumn In New York*/Song For Suzy*/Lover.
(*Martine Avenue CD - Jazz Jubilee)


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