Jemeel Moondoc

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Jemeel Moondoc

| image = Jemeel Moondoc.jpg

| caption = Moondoc performing at Studio Rivbea July, 1976

| background = solo_singer

| birth_name =

| alias =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1946|08|05|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, United States

| death_date = {{death date and age|2021|08|29|1946|08|05}}

| instrument = Alto saxophone, clarinet, piano

| genre = Jazz

| occupation = Musician

| years_active =

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| website = https://www.jemeelmoondoc.com/

}}

Jemeel Moondoc (August 5, 1946 – August 29, 2021){{Cite web|url=https://www.wbgo.org/music/2021-09-09/jemeel-moondoc-intrepid-saxophonist-and-composer-who-carved-a-path-through-the-avant-garde-is-dead-at-76|title=Jemeel Moondoc, Intrepid Saxophonist and Composer Who Carved a Path Through the Avant-Garde, Is Dead at 76|date=September 9, 2021|website=Wbgo.org|access-date=September 30, 2021}}{{cite book|title=The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-580-8|pages=291–2}} was a jazz saxophonist who played alto saxophone.{{cite book|last=Such|first=David Glen|title=Avant-garde jazz musicians: performing "out there"|year=1993|publisher=University of Iowa Press|isbn=978-0-87745-435-9|pages=67–70|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BPQMX8idVh0C&pg=PA67}} He was a proponent of a highly improvisational style.

He was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and studied clarinet and piano before settling on saxophone at sixteen. He became interested in jazz largely due to Cecil Taylor and at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, he was a student of Taylor's. After that he moved to New York City, where he founded "Ensemble Muntu" with William Parker, Roy Campbell, Jr., and Rashid Bakr. The group also had its own Muntu record label, but eventually faced financial difficulties. In 1984, he formed the Jus Grew Orchestra, which secured a residency at the Neither/Nor club in the Lower East Side. He worked with Parker again in 1998's album, New World Pygmies.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/new-world-pygmies-mw0000660040|title=New World Pygmies - Jemeel Moondoc | Songs, Reviews, Credits |website=AllMusic|access-date=July 30, 2021}}

He died in August 2021, at the age of 75 from the effects of sickle cell anemia.