Klarinet Archive - Posting 000439.txt from 1995/02

From: "Michael A. Cassara" <michael.cassara@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: The Jazzless Age
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 1995 19:59:10 -0500

Hi gang,
(THIS MESSAGE IS IMHO OR IN MY HUMBLE OPINIONS. PLEASE DO NOT LETTER BOMB
ME IF YOU DISSAGREE....)

Yes, it's true the clarinet was not the instrument of choice for the
bebop era. It just didn't (and won't) fit in with the LOUD instrumentation
used. Not to say that saxes and trumpets and drums aren't good, but if you
double you should know that the sax is able to get MUCH Louder than the
clarinet. Our instrument also lacks the metallic quality of brass and
saxes.
I think it was Buddy deFranco who said something (ingenius) about all
instruments go through a "dumb period". For instance the soprano saxaphone
was nothing more than a novelty during most of the big band years. Look at
it today. The clarinet had its "dumb era" in certain types of jazz
throughout the 40's to the 70's. Thanks to people like Eddie Daniels, Don
Byron, Richard Stoltzman and Mr. deFranco himself, ways to use the clarinet
in jazz are being explored as we speak.
If a clarinet and guitar share the same quality of a alto sax and a
trumpet then one has just made a discovery. For instance the clarinet
sounds tune in front of a Goodmanesque big band. Do you think an electric
keyboard would share that quality?
>"Now, however, the clarinet's jazz era is a thing of the past... In
>recent years, the clarinet has lost the firm hold it formerly had on the
>position of a much-used jazz solo instrument. Today, the clarinet is used
>in jazz almost entirely as a 'doubling' instrument by saxophonists."
The clarinet is a wonderful warm, soft instrument. There was a time
when a certain Belgian clarinet player decided his instrument should have
louder acoustics. So Adolphe Sax added some brass and made a sax. Every
song has it's own instrumentation that would seem perfect to all different
people. I feel that instrumentation is a very important form when
interpreting a piece.
As is often said history repeats itself. I'm sure some of you out
there with a knowledge of classical music can point out times when certain
instruments were "dumb" or not in style. I would be interested in learning
if the clarinet ever had such a period?

I hope this clears some things up for you,
Mike Cassara,
Cleveland, Ohio