Trumpeter Charles Moore, a mainstay of the Detroit jazz scene in the 1960s and later a musician and educator in Los Angeles, died at his home there of an apparent heart attack on May 30. He was 73. His death was confirmed by a colleague, fellow musician Adam Rudolph.
Moore first came to prominence in Detroit in the early 1960s, as a trumpeter/flugelhornist and co-founder of the Detroit Artists’ Workshop, which later became known as Trans-Love Energies. Moore contributed flugelhorn to the rock group MC5’s 1971 album High Time. Moore was also involved in the co-founding of Strata Records, a Detroit-based label that released only 10 albums in the ’70s.
The All Music Guide website notes Moore’s work with such ensembles as the Penland Polygon Quintet and the Contemporary Jazz Quintet. He was also a founding member of the Eternal Wind Ensemble, which included Rudolph.
After relocating to L.A., Moore studied ethnomusicology at UCLA, where he earned a doctorate degree. He subsequently taught at Wayne State University, Santa Monica College and California Institute of the Arts.
His recordings can be heard on the Atlantic, Blue Note, Capitol, Arista, Flying Fish and Tribe label, as well as Strata.
