This recording was a total pleasure because producer Bill Sorin let me be me, musically. So many of the previous producers of my albums wanted a "concept." Well, how about the concept being "Moody"? Bill is wonderful!!
In February 2011 Moody 4B won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album by an Individual or Group.[4] Moody had previously recorded over fifty solo albums and been nominated for several Grammies[5] but the win was his first.[4] The award was given two months after Moody died as a result of pancreatic cancer.[5] The other nominees in the category were Positootly! by John Beasley, The New Song and Dance by The Clayton Brothers, Historicity by the Vijay Iyer Trio, and Providencia by Danilo Pérez.[6] During the Grammy telecast Moody was featured along with other recently deceased musicians in a tribute montage.[7]
Michael G. Nastos of Allmusic called Moody 4B a "safe concession to mainstream jazz" and that Moody "has still got it". He called Moody's sax playing "polished and graceful" and his sidemen "too good and literate to be denied high accolades".[8]
All About Jazz published three reviews of the album by Warren Allen, Edward Blanco, and Dan Bilawsky. Allen called the album "a healthy dose of good swing by the best in the business". He called the two original numbers "sweet and catchy enough to fit seamlessly into the program" and closes by saying the recording "simply sounds like good jazz should".[3] Blanco closed his review with "At 85 years young, James Moody keeps churning out some of the best straight ahead jazz in the business."[9] Lastly, Bilawsky called the set "a fine edition to the catalog of one of the most enduring and important saxophonists in jazz".[10]
Andrea Canter called the album "a monster quartet outing" in Jazz Police, going on she wrote that "each musician shines although perhaps none more than the leader".[2]
