LeRoi Moore, 46; played sax for the Dave Matthews Band

August 20, 2008|Raquel Maria Dillon, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Saxophonist LeRoi Moore, one of the founding members of the Dave Matthews Band and a key part of its eclectic jazz-infused sound, died yesterday from sudden complications stemming from injuries he sustained in an all-terrain vehicle accident in June. He was 46.

Mr. Moore died at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles, the band said on its website.

The statement did not specify what led to his death.

Mr. Moore was hospitalized on June 30 after the accident on his farm outside Charlottesville, Va. He was later discharged and had recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin a physical rehabilitation program when complications forced him back into the hospital on July 17, the band said.

Galina Shinder, a nursing supervisor at Hollywood Presbyterian, said the hospital could not release any details.

The band last appeared in Boston at the Comcast Center in late June, just days before Mr. Moore's accident. Saxophonist Jeff Coffin of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones has been sitting in for Mr. Moore.

Mr. Moore, who liked to wear his trademark dark sunglasses at the bands' live concerts, had classical training but said jazz was his main musical influence, according to a biography on the website.

"But at this stage I don't really consider myself a jazz musician," he said in the biography. Playing with the Dave Matthews Band was "almost better than a jazz gig. I have plenty of space to improvise, to try new ideas."

Lead singer Dave Matthews credited Mr. Moore with arranging many of his songs, which combine Cajun fiddle-playing, African-influenced rhythms, and Matthews's playful but haunting voice.

The band formed in 1991 in Charlottesville, Va., when Matthews was working as a bartender. He gave a demo tape of his songs to Mr. Moore, who liked what he heard and recruited his friend and fellow jazzman Carter Beauford to play drums.

The group broke out of the local music scene with the album "Under the Table and Dreaming." The band won a Grammy Award in 1997 for its hit song "So Much to Say" off its second album "Crash." Other hits include "What Would You Say," and "Satellite."