Remembering the Dave Matthews Band’s Leroi Moore (1961-2008)

  You can probably count on one hand the number of current popular bands with a saxophone player among their ranks.  Outside the ska world (and say, the E Street Band) the saxophone has become a rather scarce instrument in rock, thus Leroi Moore’s membership in the Dave Matthews Band helped shape their sound into something unique and different.  Since they first came out of Virginia in the early nineties, the Dave Matthews Band have been one of the more unique success stories, making music that legions of college kids and their parents can agree on.    Sadly, Moore died yesterday afternoon at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center where he was still being treated for injuries he suffered from an all-terrain vehicle accident in June. The exact cause of death has not been released as of yet. Today, if you go to the Dave Matthews’ Band’s official website the opening page is dedicated to Moore’s memory.  He was one of the band’s founding members.  The Dave Matthews Band had been on tour this summer without Moore while he was in recovery. Unfortunately now they must now soldier on without him. This is a very sad day for the many Dave Matthews Band fans out there.  Moore no doubt left his mark, though, and his skilled work can be heard on the many studio and live albums that the band has released up until this point.   From hit singles “What Would You Say” and “Ants Marching” to “Crash” and “American Baby,” his punctuating saxophone playing took their music to a whole new level.  Moore was only 46.  He will be missed.