Born in London, Moore’s life has always been culturally rich.  Moving to the U.S. in 1970’s, Moore became a dedicated musician as a teenager.  After attending Berklee College of Music in Boston, Moore began the life of a jazz musician. He later received the Lenny Johnson Memorial Award for outstanding musicianship.

Moore has played and recorded music with an amazing list of musicians like Dizzy Gillespie, Horace Silver, Freddie Hubbard, Ray Brown, Roy Haynes, J.J. Johnson, Cedar Walton, Bobby Hutcherson, McCoy Tyner, Roy Hargrove, Oscar Peterson, Kenny Baron to name a few.  His passion and life-long study of the tenor sax can be felt in his music.  

Notably, Moore spent fifteen years playing tenor saxophone in the The Tonight Show Orchestra with Jay Leno. During that time, Moore collaborated with many musicians, jazz quartets and quintets. One in particular, aptly named “Escape from New York,” featured some of his Tonight Show band members, drummer Marvin “Smitty” Smith and bassist Bob Hurst. 

Moore has released several albums for the Landmark (now 32 Jazz), Criss Cross, Concord, Reservoir and Savoy labels.  He can also be heard playing sideman on many other great jazz albums.  Ralph Moore has a solid, straight-ahead and inspiring style that puts him out front where he belongs. 

Listen to part of Moore’s upcoming album appearance on “Color Me Jazz” and other music down below! Check out “Color Me Jazz” when it releases November, 2019.