Russell "Big Chief" Moore

[officermayo]

There aren’t many Native Americans who became big names in the world of jazz. Among the few is Russell “Big Chief” Moore from the Pima (Akimel O’odham) tribe who grew up in the Gila River Indian Community just south of Phoenix, Arizona. He had a 50-year career that extended from the mid-1930s with Lionel Hampton’s big band to two tours with Louis Armstrong to playing for East Coast socialites in Lester Lanin’s Orchestra.

An exhibit at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix that commemorated Arizona’s statehood centennial in 2012 recognized Moore as one of the state’s foremost musicians as well as marking the 100th anniversary of his birth in 1912. His horn is now on display at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York City, which is located in the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in Lower Manhattan. Artist Philip Stein, whose work decorates the back wall of the Village Vanguard in Greenwich Village, did an oil painting of “Big Chief” that adorns the 1973 album, Pow Wow Jazz.

When Russell was 11 years old, his father passed away, and he was sent to live with relatives in Blue Island, Illinois. His Uncle Bill and Aunt Mary taught him to play several instruments and encouraged him to study all types of music, which led to his love of jazz and the trombone. At the age of 17, he ran away to Chicago, and according to Dr. Andrew Darling, an archeologist who has made an exhaustive study of Big Chief’s life, lived on the street, often sleeping in a casket in a burned-out casket factory. One evening when he was standing outside the Sunset Café, he heard Armstrong for the first time.

Moving to Los Angeles, Russell worked with Lionel Hampton’s big band in 1935 and then jobbed around the country with territorial bands, including one led by New Orleans trumpeter Oscar “Papa” Celestin.

He joined Armstrong’s last big band in 1944 When the band appeared in the movie New Orleans with Billie Holiday, the only tuxedo the producers could find to fit the 250-pound trombonist was one belonging to the equally-rotund character actor, Sydney Greenstreet. On the Hello Dolly album that featured tunes from the movie, Armstrong can be heard saying, “Take it, Big Chief” as Russell soloed on his favorite tune, “Someday You’ll Be Sorry.”

After the Armstrong band broke up in 1947, Moore worked with some of the top jazz musicians of that period, was in the house band at Jimmy Ryan’s, shared the stage with Charlie Parker and Miles Davis at the International Paris Jazz Festival in 1949, toured Europe, recorded with Sidney Bechet, and performed at inaugural balls for Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon as well as at a wedding reception for Prince Charles and Diana.

He rejoined Armstrong in 1964, replacing Trummy Young, and did a world tour with the sextet. Having lived the good life, his weight had ballooned to 350 and traveling became difficult, which led to his departure from the group. He settled in Nyack, New York with his wife and two children, led a Dixieland band, and played with the Lester Lanin Society Band. In 1982, he was honored as a “First American in the Arts” at the Kennedy Center and received the only standing ovation of the evening after playing his composition, Wounded Knee Chant.

During the last 25 years of his life, he devoted considerable time “for my people,” saying “Almost all Indians have a natural musical talent. Every Indian school boy and school girl should think about the study of music. It is a way-of-life and a useful and productive one. Music is a source of revelation and a means of understanding one’s self and one’s fellow man.” For several years, a free Russell Moore Music Fest was held at the Gila River Indian Community south of Phoenix.

Russell “Big Chief” Moore passed away in 1983 at the age of 70.

Source: Lew Shaw

[Trombonjon]

Thank you for the information. Does anyone out there knows if “Wounded Knee Chant” has been recorded and where is to be found?

[WilliamLang]

awesome info - thanks for this!

[Wade]

Thank you for the information. Does anyone out there knows if “Wounded Knee Chant” has been recorded and where is to be found?

The Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band performed a concert at Arizona State University last night. Before the performance, Jacob Moore, Russell Moore’s great nephew gave a short presentation about Russell Moore and his music. Jacob is pictured below second from the left in the back row in-between our lead trombonist Quinn Carson and myself.

Wounded Knee Chant can be found on the album Russell “Big Chief” Moore’s Pow Wow Big Band. Back cover pictured below. I found a copy of the album at ASU’s indigenous library, Labriola.

[Kbiggs]

Cool!

[yeodoug]

In 2017, I wrote a lengthy article about Russell "Big Chief" Moore for the International Trombone Association Journal. You can read and download the article from my website here:

https://www.yeodoug.com/articles/Yeo_IT ... _Moore.pdf

I wrote the article when I was living in Arizona after my retirement from the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2012, and I conducted my research during the years when I was professor of trombone at Arizona State University. Jacob Moore was very helpful in my research about Russell Moore, and the story of "Big Chief" is fascinating.

Moore recorded three solo albums in the United States and two in France. The albums from France (the covers are reproduced in my article) were made in the 1950s and are very rare, but his other albums (2 LPs and 1 CD) come up for sale on eBay from time to time. For instance, there are two copies of "Russell 'Big Chief' Moore's Pow-Wow Jazz Band" LP for sale on eBay right now, along with several photos of Moore. Set up a "saved search" on eBay for "Russell Moore Big Chief" and you'll get informed when items about him come up for auction.

YouTube also has several videos of Russell Moore playing with Louis Armstrong and the All-Stars in 1964. YouTube does not allow these videos to be played here on trombone chat.com, but just click on the "Watch on YouTube" links and you can view them easily:

Basin Street Blues


Europa


If you have Armstrong's iconic "Hello Dolly" album (1964), Russell Moore plays trombone on 10 of the tracks, including "Someday You'll Be Sorry," where, to introduce Moore, Armstrong shouts over the band,

". . . broken record . . . take it Chief, take it Chief, take it Chief, take it Chief, TAKE IT BIG CHIEF!"

In 2021, I nominated Russell Moore for the International Trombone Association's Legacy Circle Award, and he was posthumously given the award that year. The certificate the ITA presented to the Moore family is on display at the Gila River Indian Community Heritage Center, along with other remembrances of Russell Moore's life and career: https://www.grichhc.org

We do well to remember Russell "Big Chief" Moore, an Akimel O'odham, born on the Gila River Indian Reservation (now the Gila River Indian Community) south of Phoenix, a superb player in the traditional style of jazz.

-Douglas Yeo

[WilliamLang]

Doug!

Even outside the usually platitudes about your beautiful playing career, you truly are a high representative of what a life in music can look like.

Thank you for helping set the example of what we could be, and helping bring a spotlight to what we should be seeing.

[yeodoug]

Thank you, William. The phrase is trite but true, "If you don't know where you've been, you don't know where you're going." Those who follow publication of my articles and books know that I believe the past is important. In music, where the "now" is all-important, it is easy to forget that while we all have trombone and other musical heroes today, those in the past had their own heroes. And there were reasons why heroes were heroes. Just because they no longer walk among us does not take away from their influence and importance, even if their names have been forgotten. As with my 70-page article about Joannès Rochut that appears in the current (January 2025) issue of the ITA Journal - and other recent articles I have written for the ITAJ on Edward Kleinhammer, Keith Brown, Dorothy Ziegler, Lillian Briggs, and others - as well as tributes I have written about players on my blog, www.TheLastTrombone.com, like William Moyer, Henry Charles Smith, and others - I aim to bring these players from the past to our attention so we can learn from them. ITA members can find all of them in the Journal Article Archive Search on the ITA website, www.trombone.net

Related to my article on Russell "Big Chief" Moore is an article I wrote for the International Tuba Euphonium Association Journal in 2024 about another Native American low brass player, the Assiniboine Sousaphone player, John "Red Cloud" Kuhn. Kuhn was a superb tubist who played with bands led by Kryl, Conway, and Sousa. Then he played with the Isham Jones Orchestra in Chicago, an iconic dance band, and he finished his career playing with the NBC Radio Orchestra in Chicago. During his time, he was considered to be the most famous tuba player in the world.

For those interested in the story of another Native American low brass player, you can read and download my article about John Kuhn from my website, here:

https://www.yeodoug.com/articles/Yeo_IT ... n_Kuhn.pdf

Like Russell Moore, we do well to remember the work and influence of John Kuhn. And since this is a trombone forum, I should say there is a little trombone content in my article about Kuhn, particularly references to and photos of Jaroslav "Jerry" Cimera" and Carroll Martin (who played both principal trombone in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and was a member of Isham Jones' Orchestra and the NBC Radio Orchestra).

-Douglas Yeo

[baileyman]

It would be interesting to know if Armstrong bestowed the "Big Chief" moniker or it came before. In New Orleans neighborhoods there are social organizations that shows up especially during Mardi Gras but act to help local residents thrive the rest of the year. Each organization has a head called "Big Chief". (Saxophonist Donald Harrison is one.)

https://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/his ... s-indians/

Armstrong would have been familiar with this, so perhaps he provided the name?

[yeodoug]

Russell Moore was referred to as "Chief" and "Big Chief" as early as the 1940s. See the discussion about his nickname on page 22 of my article about him. By the time Russell Moore joined Armstrong combo in 1964, Moore's nickname had been in use for many years.

-Douglas Yeo