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Blues Icon Aaron Moore Dies

12/10/2013
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(The Blues) Aaron Moore, said to be the last Mississippi-born blues pianist in Chicago, has died at the age of 95 after a battle with cancer, his family has confirmed.

He backed a host of big name musicians during his career, including B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and David 'Honeyboy' Edwards. Michael Frank, boss of his label Earwig, tells the Chicago Tribune: "Aaron was a serious two-handed player with a strong left hand. A lot of blues piano players are good on the right hand; not too many are navy on bass. He was a master at that. He was a great boogie-woogie player and a real strong singer too."

He'd been born in 1918 on a Mississippi plantation and learned piano from his mother. In 1951 he moved to Chicago and his first gig was with pianist Roosevelt Sykes, who became his mentor.

One of the reasons Moore didn't achieve the notoriety of his colleagues was because he refused to jack in his day-job with the City of Chicago's sanitation department, which he held for 36 years. He released his first solo album, Hello World, via Delmark in 1996 following his retirement. Three years laters came Boot 'Em Up, after which he moved to Earwig and recorded for a number of other artists. more on this story

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Copyright The Blues Magazine - Excerpted here with permission.

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