Bill Moody (September 27, 1941 – January 14, 2018[1]) was an American writer of detective fiction and a professional jazz drummer.
Bill Moody | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 27, 1941 Webb City, Missouri |
| Died | January 14, 2018 (aged 76) Vallejo, California |
| Occupation | Novelist; jazz musician |
| Nationality | American |
| Genre | Mystery |
| Children | Sarah May |
Biography
editMoody grew up in Santa Monica, California and attended Boston's Berklee School of Music.[2]
Moody moved to Las Vegas in the mid-70s and stayed 20 years as a professional jazz drummer.[3] He also taught at the University of Nevada.[4]
Moody lived in northern California and taught creative writing at Sonoma State University.[3]
Writing career
editIn 1994, Moody's first published novel Solo Hand introduces his Evan Horne character, and addresses music royalties and blackmail.[5]
Moody wrote Death of a Tenor Man (1996) while teaching at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. The subject of this novel is the mysterious death of saxophonist Wardell Gray.[2][6]
His third Evan Horne mystery The Sound of the Trumpet (1997) involves lost recordings of trumpeter Clifford Brown.[7]
Bird Lives! (1999) centers around the murders of "smooth jazz" artists.[8]
In Looking for Chet Baker (2002) Horne investigates the disappearance of a friend who has been writing a paper on Chet Baker.[9]
Shades of Blue (2008) is not a murder mystery, but instead Horne investigates what might be original compositions of two famous Miles Davis recordings.[10]
In Fade to Blue (2011) Horne teaches an actor how to fake piano playing for a movie, but is drawn in to a murder investigation.[11]
Mood Swings (2014) is a collection of nine stories, each providing a view of the world of jazz through the eyes of nine musicians.
Moody has written two espionage novels: Czechmate: the Spy Who Played Jazz was written in 1986 but not published until 2012, and The Man in Red Square was published in 2013.[12]
Moody wrote his 1993 non-fiction book The Jazz Exiles based on his experiences living and working in Europe for three years.[2]
Music career
editMoody has played with many jazz musicians, including Jon Hendricks, Lou Rawls, Maynard Ferguson, Russ Freeman, and Carson Smith.[2][4]
Bibliography
editEvan Horne Series
editFictional mysteries featuring jazz pianist Evan Horne.
- Solo Hand (1994) ISBN 1871033497
- Death of a Tenor Man (1995) ISBN 0802732690
- The Sound of the Trumpet (1997) ISBN 0802732917
- Bird Lives! (1998) ISBN 0373263503
- Looking for Chet Baker (2002) ISBN 1590585739
- Shades of Blue (2008) ISBN 1590584856
- Fade to Blue (2011) ISBN 1590588940
Other novels
edit- Czechmate: The Spy Who Played Jazz (2012) ISBN 1937495302
- The Man in Red Square (2013) ISBN 1937495450
Collections
editMood Swings (2014) ISBN 9781943402090
Nonfiction
editThe Jazz Exiles (1993) ISBN 978-0874172140
References
edit- ^ "Bill Moody – author of mysteries and Cold War thrillers – jazz drummer". billmoodyjazz.com. Archived from the original on June 22, 2019. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ a b c d Hamlin, Jesse (March 16, 2002). "Moody's clues / Jazz drummer delves into the mysteries of the music world in his novels". San Francisco Gate. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
- ^ a b Hallaman, Paul (April 10, 2002). "Bill Moody, author of Looking for Chet Baker". Jerry Jazz Musician. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
- ^ a b Dunton, John (July 10, 2008). "Bill Moody's "Swinging Detective"". Jazz Profiles. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
- ^ uncredited (February 1, 1994). "Review: Solo Hand". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
- ^ uncredited (October 1, 1995). "Review: Death of a Tenor Man". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
- ^ Breton, Marcela (November 1, 1997). "The Sound of the Trumpet by Bill Moody". JazzTimes. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
- ^ Stasio, Marilyn (June 27, 1999). "Review: Bird Lives". The New York Times. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
- ^ Santoro, Gene (April 7, 2002). "Die Cool". The New York Times. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
- ^ uncredited (February 1, 2008). "Review: Shades of Blue". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
- ^ uncredited (April 1, 2011). "Review: Fade to Blue". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
- ^ Moody, Bill (March 19, 2013). "Behind the Book: The Man in Red Square". Crimespree Magazine. Retrieved March 5, 2017.