Deacon John Moore

Deacon John Moore
File:Deacon John Moore.jpg Moore at the Richmond Folk Festival 2015
Background information
Birth name	John Moore
Born	(1941-06-23) June 23, 1941
Origin	New Orleans, Louisiana
Genres	Blues, Rhythm and Blues
Occupation(s)	Musician, bandleader, actor
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, tambourine
Years active	1950s –
Labels	Minit Records, RedBone Records, Vetter Communications
Website	Deacon John's Jump Blues

Deacon John Moore (born June 23, 1941, New Orleans, Louisiana) better known as Deacon John is a blues, rhythm and blues and rock and roll musician, singer, actor, and bandleader.

Career

Moore grew up in New Orleans' 8th Ward. He plays guitar and is the brother of the Creole scholar Sybil Kein.

He was active on the New Orleans R&B scene since his teens, and became a session man on many hit recordings of the late 1950s and the 1960s, including those by Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas, Lee Dorsey, Ernie K-Doe, and others.

His band the Ivories at New Orleans' Dew Drop Inn attracted an enthusiastic following, sometimes upstaging visiting national acts Moore was hired to open for. While highly regarded locally and by his fellow musicians, lack of hit records under his own name kept him from the national fame achieved by a number of his peers.

In 2000 Moore was inducted into the Louisiana Blues Hall of Fame.

He is featured in the documentary film Going Back to New Orleans: The Deacon John Film and the concert DVD, "Deacon John's Jump Blues."

As of 2006 he remains a local favorite on the New Orleans music scene. On July 25, 2006 Moore became president of the local branch of the American Federation of Musicians.

On April 10, 2007, Moore's son, Keith was shot and killed at the age of 42, in New Orleans. Keith was locally famous in New Orleans as ambient noise artist, Jambox Pyramid, and member of the punk band, Manchild. In addition, Keith co-founded the experimental music event, Noizefest, in 2005 with local producer, Sir Stephen, as an alternative, modern addition to the Jazzfest festivities.

In January 2008, Deacon John was selected to close the Inauguration of Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal by performing "God Bless America" with the 156th Army Band and a Navy fly-over of jets, and later headline the Governor's Inuagural Ball.

In 2008, in ceremonies and performance in New Orleans at NOCCA, Deacon John was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

Acting career

Moore had his first taste of acting by appearing in the horror film Angel Heart in 1987. Moore did not appear on the big screen again until 2013 when he had a cameo in another horror film The Last Exorcism Part II. Moore also guest starred in a few episodes of Treme during 2010.

Discography

• 1990 Singer of Song (Singer of Song)
• 1999 Live at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 1994 (RedBone)
• 2003 Deacon John's Jump Blues (Vetter) CD & DVD

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	The Last Exorcism Part II	Old Bluesman
2010	Treme	Danny Nelson	3 episodes
1987	Angel Heart	Toots Sweet Band – Lead Guitar

External links

• Deacon John's Jump Blues