The passing of an artist is always a sad occasion. I've been disturbed these past two days, learning about the untimely death of LeRoi Moore, one of the founding members of the Dave Matthews Band and a saxophone master of our generation. He was an artist,yes; but in his music, on his instrument, he was a poet writing out immaculate verse. Strange things, as they say, happen to good people. And LeRoi was a good man. It showed in his music.
His lines are embedded in my memory. I have been listening to the band's back catalogue and all the bootleg tapes that I had rabidly collected in my university years. LeRoi, along with drummer Carter Beauford and violinist Boyd Tinsley, firmly held up the jazz end of the jam sensations. It's a little ironic that the song that plays over and over again at this point is a LeRoi showpiece called Lie In Our Graves. He was only 46.
