Tune in to Out To Lunch this Tuesday, June 10th for an interview with saxophone legend Jemeel Moondoc. Moondoc has been active in the free jazz scene since the late 70s, playing with artists such as William Parker, Roy Cambell, Jr., and Rashid Bakr (all who are part of his Ensemble Muntu). He sat down with us to talk about his upcoming gig at the Vision Fest 19, where he will be playing onstage with Steve Swell, Nathan Breedlove, Hill Green, and Newman Taylor Barker. Listen!
Jemeel Moondoc (born August 5, 1951 in Chicago, Illinois) is a jazz saxophonist who plays alto saxophone. He is a proponent of a highly improvisational style.
He studied clarinet and piano before settling on saxophone at sixteen. He became interested in jazz largely due to Cecil Taylor and at the University of Wisconsin–Madison he was a student of Taylor's. After that he moved to New York City where he founded "Ensemble Muntu" with William Parker, Roy Campbell, Jr., and Rashid Bakr. The group also had its own Muntu record label, but eventually faced financial difficulties. He worked with Parker again in 1998's album New World Pygmies.