Moe Koffman

Moe Koffman
Background information
Birth name	Morris Koffman
Born	(1928-12-28)December 28, 1928 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Died	March 28, 2001(2001-03-28) (aged 72) Orangeville, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instrument(s)	Saxophone, flute
Labels	Anthem, GRT, Jubilee, Kama Sutra, United Artists

Morris "Moe" Koffman, OC (28 December 1928 – 28 March 2001) was a Canadian jazz saxophonist and flautist, as well as composer and arranger. During a career spanning from the 1950s to the 2000s, Koffman was one of Canada's most prolific musicians, working variously in clubs and sessions and releasing 30 albums.^[1] With his 1957 record Cool and Hot Sax on the New York–based Jubilee label, Koffman became one of the first Canadian jazz musicians to record a full-length album. Koffman was also a long-time member of Rob McConnell's Boss Brass.

Early life and education

Koffman was born in

Koffman was inspired by Rahsaan Roland Kirk to play multiple instruments at once; and had a modified set of straps to hold a tenor and an alto saxophone so that he could put forward incredible chords and improvise at the same time. One of the more famous session musicians in Toronto, he appeared in countless commercials, background music, and film and TV soundtracks. Most work on bass flute in Canadian soundtracks from 1950 to 1990 in Toronto sessions was done by Koffman on this rare instrument. Koffman was also an exponent of circular breathing techniques for his large volumes of sound, and joined fellow Canadian Maynard Ferguson and new age multi-instrumentalist musician Ron Allen in this talent.

During the 1970s, Koffman recorded several albums with arrangements of works by classical composers including Bach, Mozart and Vivaldi. The albums were released by GRT Canada^[7] and later by Universal. He also was a guest performer with a number of symphony orchestras across Canada.

He performed with

He was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1993 and inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1997.

Career

By May 1970, Koffman's album, Moe's Curried Soul was out on the

Koffman recorded the single "City Motions" with The Longo Brothers. It charted in the CanCon Top 10 Adult Contemporary chart for a number of weeks in 1984.^[16][17][18]

Illness and death

Koffman was diagnosed with

In 2002, Moe Koffman was a MasterWorks honouree by the Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada. Some of Koffman's music for Duke Street Records was unreleased at the time of his death. Music for the Night was released and re-issued in 2007, and Devil's Brew was re-issued in 2009.

Discography (Selective)

LPs:

• Cool and Hot Sax (1957) (Jubilee)
• The Shepherd Swings Again (1958) (Jubilee)
• Moe Koffman The Swinging Shepherd Plays for Teens (1962) (Ascot)
• Tales of Koffman (1962) (UA)
• The Moe Koffman Quartet (1963) (CTA)
• Moe Koffman (1967) (Universal)
• 1967 (1967) (Just A Memory)
• Moe Koffman Quartet (1967) (CBC/RCI)
• Moe Koffman Goes Electric (1967) (Jubilee)
• Turned On Moe Koffman (1968) (Jubilee)
• Moe's Curried Soul with
  Revolver)^[10]
• Moe Koffman Plays Bach (1971) (GRT)
• The Four Seasons (1972) (GRT)
• Master Session (1974) (GRT)
• Solar Explorations (1974) (GRT)
• Swinging Shepherd (1975) (Universal)
• Live at George's (1975) (GRT)
• Jungle Man (1976) (GRT)
• Museum Pieces (1977) (Janus)
• Things Are Looking Up (1978) (GRT)
• Back to Bach (1979) (Anthem)
• Project (1980) (Universal)
• If You Don't Know Me By Now... (1982) (Elektra)
• Moe-Mentum (1986) (Universal)
• One Moe Time (1986) (Duke)
• Oop.Pop.A.Da featuring Dizzy Gillespie (1989) (Universal)
• Moe Koffman Quintet Plays (1990) (Duke Street Records)
• Music for the Night arranged by Doug Riley (1991) (Universal)
• Collection (1993) (Universal)
• Devil's Brew (1996) (Universal)

With the Ron Collier Orchestra featuring Duke Ellington

• North of the Border in Canada (Decca, 1967 [1969])

See also

• Music of Canada
• Canadian Music Hall of Fame

References