James Moody (1907–1995) (not to be confused with American saxophonist
James Moody) was a
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
-born pianist, arranger and composer best known for his music for classical
harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...
, including twenty-two works for harmonica and piano, three works for harmonica and strings, eight works for harmonica and orchestra, and some two dozen other works for instrumental combinations such as harmonica and harp, harmonica and string quartet, and harmonica ensemble. He also arranged a lot of other music for harmonica, for example Irish, Scottish, English, and Norwegian folk melodies.
Moody gained his first recognition as a pianist, and from the age of thirteen was earning a good living playing in cinemas for silent films in his native town
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
. He also wrote arrangements for and played piano in the Belfast-based Philip Whiteway Ensemble.
In 1938 Moody moved to England, joining
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
Bristol as a piano soloist, accompanist, and arranger. Over the next forty years he became a household name on British radio due to such long-running musical programs as ''Stop Dancing'' (1935–41) ''Accent on Rhythm'' (1937–56) and ''As You Were'' (1961–75) As accompanist and music director for many such variety shows, he came into contact with the famous harmonica soloist
. This inspired him to teach himself to play the harmonica so that he could arrange and compose idiomatically for the instrument.
Reilly and Moody recorded many scores for the harmonica under the pen names ''Dwight Barker'' and ''Max Martin'', many of them recorded on 78 RPM records issued by Berry Music Moody and Reilly worked together on the title music and score for the British comedy film
(based on the BBC radio series) in 1959. Other works (mostly dating from the 1930s and 1940s) included the orchestral miniatures ''Bulgarian Wedding Dance'' and ''Palm Beach Promenade'', and piano compositions such as ''Boogie Caprice'',
' and ''Parakeet in Paradise''.
Moody's four movement ''Little Suite for harmonica and small orchestra'' (1960) was recorded by Reilly with the
in 1977. More recently his Quintet for harmonica and string quartet, composed in 1972, has been recorded by the Italian harmonica player Gianluca Littera and the Quartetto Energie Nove.