Dave Matthews Band Saxman LeRoi Moore Dead At 46

LeRoi Moore, founding member and saxophonist for the Dave Matthews Band has died at age 46. Moore died on Tuesday, according to a report published at MTV.com as a result of complications from injuries he originally sustained in an ATV accident on June 30 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Those injuries, which included a punctured lung and broken ribs, caused the saxophonist to be re-hospitalized in July.

Earlier today, the Dave Matthews Band issued the following statement from its website:

We are deeply saddened that LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and founding member of Dave Matthews Band, died unexpectedly Tuesday afternoon, August 19, 2008, at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles from sudden complications stemming from his June ATV accident on his farm near Charlottesville, Virginia. LeRoi had recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin an intensive physical rehabilitation program.

The Dave Matthews Band performed as scheduled at a concert Tuesday night at Los Angeles Staples Center, with Béla Fleck and the Flecktones saxophonist Jeff Coffin filling in for Moore, as he done on all of the band’s dates since Moore was hospitalized. As this article went to press, there was no word as to whether or not any of the band’s other concerts on their annual summer tour would be rescheduled or canceled. There was also no word yet on memorial services for the saxophonist.

Known for their improvisational, free-form “jam band” style in a live setting, The Dave Matthews Band has grown over the years to be one of the biggest concert attractions in America. Their outdoor ampitheater shows at venues like Washington State’s Gorge Ampitheater on the banks of the Columbia River (where they do an annual stand during Labor Day weekend), are considered high points of the season, often drawing fans who are known to travel from show to show to see them.