Klarinet Archive - Posting 001236.txt from 1997/09

From: Charles <chardy@-----.com>
Subj: Re: no one sounds like.........
Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 19:18:31 -0400

At 10:19 AM 9/27/97 -0500, you wrote:
>On Sat, 27 Sep 1997, Charles wrote:
>
>> There are people that can play higher, lower, faster, louder and better
>> jazz, but no one gets a more personalized, virtually unmistakenly
>> individualized sound (style) than:
>>
>> Bill Harris
>> George Roberts
>> Urbie Green
>> Louis Armstrong
>> Buddy Defranco
>> Tommy Dorsey
>> Bobby Hackett
>
>We may have to take this discussion to another list, but....
>
>Since individuality of tone is one of the primary expressive devices of
>jazz, shouldn't every jazz player be on this list? I started thinking of
>who might be added to the list, but finally found myself trying to figure
>out who could be excluded. For example, among trumpet/cornet players,
>certainly Louis Armstrong and Bobby Hackett have recognizable tone
>quality, but so do Miles Davis and Chet Baker. Bill Harris is an easy
>choice (if we are thinking of the same Bill Harris) because there are
>almost no other bass trumpet players with whom he can be compared. The
>same can be said of George Roberts in the world of the bass trombone.
>Perhaps I'm not correctly understanding the criterion for inclusion on the
>list.
>
>Still, I will mention a personal choice which may be surprising to many.
>On the basis of tone quality only, one of the tenor saxophonists I most
>enjoy hearing is Bill Perkins, formerly with the Woody Herman band in the
>late 1950's and 60's. But, then certainly John Coltrane belongs on a list
>of musicians with easily identifiable sounds, and in addition is among the
>very top echelon of jazz musicians on the basis of any criterion. Others
>would include Stan Getz, and perhaps the most widely-recognized saxophone
>sound of Paul Desmond. So, I am back to where I started. How can any of
>the great players be excluded from the list?
>
>Ed Lacy
>*****************************************************************
>Dr. Edwin Lacy University of Evansville
>Professor of Music 1800 Lincoln Avenue
> Evansville, IN 47722
>el2@-----.edu (812)479-2754
>*****************************************************************
>
>
>Bill Harris rarely played bass trumpet. Most of his recordings were made on the slide trombone (with a lucite mouthpiece).

Being a great jazz player does not necessarily mean having a distinctive tone.

Charlie