Klarinet Archive - Posting 000507.txt from 1995/04

From: John Henninger <bunky@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: From Classical to Jazz
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 19:58:04 -0400

It's hard to back up the flat statement that there is a jazz clarinet
sound and a cllasical clarinet sound and somehow they are different.
Even at the earliest periods of jazz often times the pianist and the
clarinetist were the only 2 people in a group that knew how to read
music and had any formal training. The jazz-classic clarinet solo by
Alphonse Picou on "High Society" had a classical sound evn in the 1920s
when he recorded the piece.

I would say that as a general rule the great majority of jazz
clarinetists have had classical music training simply because the
instrument is more complicated than the other "jazz band" instruments.
It's been only fairly recent that there has been a reverse migration
from sax to picking up clarinet as a second instrument.

Big band clarinetists like Woody Herman, Artie Shaw (incidently, I
think her's still alive and well) and Benny Goodman were all
classically trained and at one or more points in their careers took
time off to tour as classical muscians. Herman commissioned the "Ebony
Concerto" from Stravinsky, because, like Ellington, Herman considered
his band as his orchestra of choice. Shaw "retired" several times
during his career and toured with compositions he had commissioned,
though to tell the truth I can't remember the composers. Goodman
commissioned concertos from Copland, Bartok and Hindemith and toward
the end of his life was a frequent performer at the major classical
musical festivals.

Goodman also had a unique emboucher that he had developed in his
Chicago jazz days in the late 20s. He bit on his mouthpiece with both
lips curled under cushioning the entire mouthpiece with his lips. This
gave him a "clinical" sound so clear and sharp-edged that it cut
through any number of brass, piano, drums and guitars. The downside was
when he played in chamber groups the quality of his tone didn't blend
in with, say, a string quartet. Musical Heritage Society has released
several tapes and CDs of Goodman playing with strings and his sound has
quite and edge to it. John