Celebration of life service planned for late Vermont saxophone player Joe Moore

A celebration of life service will be held next month for Burlington saxophone legend Joe Moore, who died last week after fighting cancer.

Moore, 75, died Tuesday, March 26, according to an obituary. A memorial celebration of life service will be held Saturday, May 25, with details to be announced. The Joe Moore Youth in Music Foundation is being created in his memory to benefit students at C.P. Smith Elementary School in Burlington, where Moore volunteered for years.

The saxophone player was known locally for leading his own band and for playing with Vermont acts including The N-Zones, The X-Rays, the Nobby Reed Project and Left Eye Jump. One of his final high-profile appearances came last June at the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival during a show at the Flynn by Vermont-raised singer-songwriter Myra Flynn.

Moore played saxophone for Pork Tornado, a band created in the late 1990s by Phish drummer Jon Fishman. Pork Tornado reunited at the Essex Experience in 2022 for a benefit concert for Moore and his fight against cancer.

“Whenever Pork Tornado was about to go on stage, I’d always ask Joe, ‘Hey man, how you feelin’, Joe?’ and he would always respond with conviction, ‘I’m ready to do my job,’” Fishman is quoted as saying in Moore’s obituary.

Worked with Stevie Wonder, The Staple Singers

The obituary mentioned the central Florida native’s work with acts including Stevie Wonder, Wilson Pickett, The Staple Singers, The Isley Brothers and Maceo Parker. He opened for artists such as Taj Mahal and Jimmy Cliff.

Vermont musicians who performed with Moore over the years have posted on social media since his death about the power he brought to the stage.

“His sound was bigger than that of any other saxophone player I’ve heard in person. It was like he had lungs three times the size of an average human,” Vermont blues-soul guitarist Dave Keller wrote on his band’s Facebook page. “He had that gritty, ‘old school’ sound that you just don’t hear anymore.”

More: Most memorable Vermont concerts of 2023 include Noah Kahan, Big Thief, Myra Flynn

Moore was more than an excellent musician, according to Keller. He and other musicians commenting on social media about Moore referred to his sweet and humble nature.

“I asked him once why he wasn’t more vocal about letting folks know his pedigree,” Keller wrote. “His answer: his mother had taught him that you shouldn’t talk about yourself. So even though we all know that Joe led a life that merited a thousand page book, his humility prevented that from happening.”

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont saxophone giant Joe Moore to be honored at celebration of life