“Deacon” John Moore is an iconic New Orleans figure: a powerhouse guitarist and smooth vocalist whose band, the Ivories, has been in demand at proms, weddings, Carnival balls, and festivals for decades. He’s an old school bluesman at heart, but can effortlessly slide from New Orleans R&B to gospel to disco to contemporary pop. He hasn’t had the recording career or touring life that would put him on the mainstream map, but he is a legend nonetheless.
Moore, one of 13 children, grew up in a musical household, and was influenced as much by the blues music he heard over late night radio – Bo Diddley and Howlin’ Wolf - as he was by the fertile New Orleans music scene around him, burgeoning with stars like Little Richard, Shirley and Lee, and Fats Domino.
In the late 1950s he honed his guitar chops – and his reputation - playing in the house band at the legendary Dew Drop Inn, as a session man for Allen Toussaint at Cosimo Matassa’s J & M Studios, and backing then-rising stars like Aaron and Art Neville, Irma Thomas, Lee Dorsey, and Ernie K-Doe. He was given the nickname “Deacon” by a band member, and even though he didn’t like it at first, it stuck, and now the entire city is on first name terms with “Deke.”
He formed his own band in 1960, where both his showmanship and leadership flourished. Over the years Deacon John and the Ivories became a staple at New Orleans’ many social events, to the point that now he’s performing at the weddings of children whose grandparents – or even great-grandparents - shared their own first dances to the Ivories. The band is also known somewhat as a farm team; members have included James Booker, various Neville brothers, James Rivers, and Moore’s own family members, including guitarist son Charles and granddaughter Kathleen, who now sings with the WWII Museum’s Victory Belles. Moore’s soulful voice and patrician status lend grace and stature to funeral services; his versions of “Ave Maria” and “Many Rivers to Cross” bring goosebumps as well as closure to mourners.
Moore is a crowd favorite at the annual Jazz and Heritage Festival, has played at the White House and at gubernatorial inaugurations, and is an inductee in the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. He’s the subject of the documentary film, Going Back to New Orleans: The Deacon John Film and a 2003 concert CD, Deacon John’s Jump Blues. He’s not famous on the world stage; as he told National Public Radio, "I never had a hit record and I never been on tour, and I never played in all these foreign countries. Many of my contemporaries have. I'm just one of the guys who stayed around here and made a living playing music."
In addition to his leadership on the bandstand, Moore is also a behind-the-stage leader as the longtime president of the local branch of the American Federation of Musicians, the first African-American to hold that role. He has also dabbled in acting, with appearances in the 1987 film Angel Heart, a cameo in the 2013 The Last Exorcism Part II, and as a guest star on several episodes of HBO’s Treme series.
