Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Don Moors. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Don thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?

When I began teaching music I quickly realized that consistent, ongoing instrumental music instruction is seriously undervalued — particularly at the elementary level. When there is music instruction it generally consists of choral music (children singing – rote learning) and yet, statistics have proven that “students participating in instrumental music will generally improve their academic performance by 15% over that of non-participants…”
The peripheral value of an instrumental music program cannot be overstated. The study of music enhances — among other things — hand/eye coordination, reading comprehension and mathematical ability.
Instrumental music instruction in schools is not a frivolous expenditure. It should be an integral part of curriculum from at least 3rd- 12th grades.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’ve been a professional musician for the past 58 years and I’m on the back end of a lengthy and very interesting career, My Electronic Press Kit explains my history clearly:
Don Moors has a very eclectic background. Trained as a jazz player (by Berklee College, Cal Tjader and Randy Weston) but underpinned by his West Indian roots and, with a lengthy stint making R&B records in L.A., he brings a unique sensibility to Mallet Percussion. He spent nearly two decades as a performer and recording artist in Los Angeles touring with artists including Freddie Hubbard, Roberta Flack, Marvin Gaye, Randy Weston and Junior Cook among others and recording with LTD, The Manhattans, Tavares, Taj Mahal & John Handy for A&M, Electra-Asylum and Columbia and can be heard on a variety of Motown tracks as well. Don is equally at home with straight ahead jazz, funk, fusion and pop music all layered with his Caribbean origins.
What this doesn’t mention is my teaching career. Because of the nature of my work my time has been flexible. I’ve taught age appropriate music classes at the Elementary, Secondary and College level including Jazz Workshops for adults at Stanford University. Jazz, being the only original American art form, I feel an obligation to pass the skills along to younger generations.
I also formed a percussion group (AJABU) with two other percussionists and did what was essentially ethnomusicology for
children in schools. (Tracing the genesis of percussion from early man duplicating his heartbeat on a hollow log to contemporary music,) How the music moved around the world with emphasis on creating instruments from the indigenous environment. This program was in schools for nearly two decades but requires grant funding and that’s a problem as of late…
I’m doing what I can to keep it going!

Have you ever had to pivot?

I was very active as a recording musician in Los Angeles studios for most of the 1970s and early 1980s. I had gotten very comfortable with my life and was only occasionally performing publicly more for my own amusement than for the income. One day I showed up for an overdub session which generally meant me, a drummer and a 12 or 14 piece string section.
When I arrived there was the drummer I expected (James Gadson) and me. NO STRINGS… But over in the corner was someone with a keyboard. He turned it on, played a chord and suddenly – there were the strings!
Gadson turned to me and said, “We’re in trouble. As soon as they capture what we do on chips we’re unemployed.”
I told him that was nonsense. They needed live musicians. He replied. “I give it a year and a half. Two years at best.”
It was 10 months after that conversation that technology took over and we were done.
I sat around for a while like a Pony Express rider waiting for the trains to go out of business waiting for this fad to blow over.
It didn’t and I knew I didn’t want to go back in nightclubs (entertaining drunks till 2:00AM). Finally, I realized that there was a need, particularly in private schools, for music teachers at the elementary and middle school level and they couldn’t afford to keep them on staff. So I began soliciting school principals. I told them ” I’ll give you a completely self contained instrumental music instruction program free, bill the parents a nominal fee, you supply clients and facilities and I make a living in the aggregate.” The idea was right time/ right place and exploded! As soon as I passed the five schools I could personally handle
I hired qualified musicians to staff others and that’s how I became a teacher…
I eventually expanded from L.A. to the Bay Area and did that in varying degrees until just recently. As I personally moved around to accommodate my wife’s career as a Principal I did programs in Stockton, CA, Mobile,AL,, St. Croix, USVI and most recently, Metro Atlanta.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Even prior to my lengthy adventure in Elementary and Middle School teaching programs I felt a personal obligation to pass my knowledge along especially to young people. During my recording career I worked part time for L.A. high schools assisting jazz ensembles and taught an Ethnomusicology class at Cal Poly Pomona and U.C. Riverside. When I went to Bay Area with my teaching program I did a summer programs at Cazadero Music Camp and Stanford Jazz Workshop. I also began a performing program in schools called AJABU which consisted of three percussionist with an enormous supply of ethnic instruments tracing the genesis of percussion from early man duplicating his heartbeat on a hollow log to contemporary music.
This has been done for three decades in California and the Caribbean. (Less lately, because it requires grant funding). I’m mostly driven, at this point of my life, to make sure the music continues after me…

Contact Info:

• Website: http://donmoors.com/ajabu.html
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw8v6OaxVKzIQIEqmKglqag

Image Credits
Don Moors