Klarinet Archive - Posting 000690.txt from 1996/05

From: Merlin Allan Williams <merlinw@-----.CA>
Subj: Re: Jazz Clarinetisits?
Date: Fri, 31 May 1996 23:30:05 -0400

You wrote:
>
>Anyone on this mailing list ever play clarinet in your high school
jazz band?
> My band teacher is convinced a clarinet has no place in a Jazz Band.
>

Sounds to me like your _high school teacher_ has no place in a Jazz
Band!<G>

But seriously, so little music that is meant to be played by high
school jazz ensembles has clarinet parts, and when they are it is a
double on saxes. The clarinet has a place in Jazz, but what passes for
jazz in high schools is frequently a poor imitation. If you want to
play jazz clarinet, get some Jamey Aebersold play-a-long CD's and
practice to your hearts content. You'll probably end up a better
musician than the people warming the chairs in a high school big band.

Or, you could always take up the saxophone, and have your clarinet
ready for the doubling charts when it is needed.

BTW, tell your band director to pick up some Ellington albums with
Jimmy Hamilton on clarinet. Let him listen to "Ellington at Newport".
If that recording doesn't convince him, he should be teaching
underwater basket weaving instead of music.

merlinw@-----.ca