SAN DIEGO, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Famed jazz musician, composer and band leader James Moody died Thursday of pancreatic cancer at the San Diego Hospice, his wife said. He was 85.
Linda McGowan Moody told The San Diego Union-Tribune the saxophonist and flutist, who enjoyed a successful career that spanned six decades, died with his family by his side, following a 10-month battle with pancreatic cancer.
"He couldn't have gone more peacefully," Moody told the newspaper.
The Savannah, Ga., native was raised in Newark, N.J. He began playing saxophone as a teenager and began his career in earnest after serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II.
A one-time member of Dizzy Gillespie's all-star big band, James Moody had perhaps his biggest hit in 1949 with "Moody's Mood for Love."
The Union-Tribune said Moody recorded more than 50 solo albums and worked with such musical icons as Gillespie, Quincy Jones, Lionel Hampton, B.B. King, Oscar Peterson, Manhattan Transfer and others throughout his distinguished career.
He is a current Grammy Award nominee for Best Jazz Instrumental Album by an Individual or Group for his CD "4B."
