About the Film
An intimate and humorous look at the life and career of the legendary blues pianist Alex Moore, a native of Dallas, was the first African American Texan to receive a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Moore taught himself to play the piano by watching others and practicing whenever he got a chance. Because he had no formal training, Moore developed a distinctive improvisatory piano style that included elements of blues, ragtime, barrelhouse, stride and boogie-woogie. He combined steady left hand bass figures with fluid right hand melodies. His lyrics were both traditional and original and were a response to his playing of the piano and to the moment at hand. The film shows his mastery of the piano at a tribute held in his honor at the famous Majestic Theater - his last public performance. For more information on Alex Moore, see Alan B. Govenar and Jay F. Brakefield, Deep Ellum and Central Track: Where the Black and White Worlds of Dallas Converged(Denton: University of North Texas Press, 1998)
