J. Burns Moore was born in 1872 in
North Sydney, Nova Scotia,
Canada. His family moved to
New Haven,
Connecticut in 1888 when he was sixteen years old, and he studied drums with Jack Lynehan. He played in his first snare drumming competition while a sergeant in the New Haven Grays. He also placed 3rd in 1893, Moore served as the first president of the new organization from 1933 to 1945. In the 1930s Moore was known as a tough teacher, reportedly throwing out students who had not practiced and using profanity around them during lessons, which cost 25 cents per half hour. According to the CPI Inflation Calculator, this would have been equivalent to about $5 in 2019, extremely inexpensive by today's standards. Moore had a strong relationship with William F. Ludwig and the
W.F.L. Drum Company published his rudimental drum book
Art of Drumming in 1937, which includes 27 rudiments despite his involvement with the selection of the Standard 26, and produced a signature model marching snare drum for him. The company also ran an ad in 1941 calling Moore the "World's Greatest Drummer" and touting his 54 years of experience at the time. "Connecticut Halftime" would later be re-released on an album called
Ruffles and flourishes : music for field trumpets and drums in 1957. Among Moore's students was Hanaford Fife and Drum Corps founder Gerd Sommer, noted rudimental teacher Carl Frolich, champion snare drummer Frank Fancher, noted teacher, drum shop owner, and contributor to
Modern Drummer and
Downbeat magazines Jimmie Stavris, and champion snare drummer (and namesake of the Dan English Trophy) Daniel English. In 2013, Moore was awarded the USARD Lifetime Achievement Award. ==References==