Klarinet Archive - Posting 000772.txt from 1998/07

From: Lisa Clayton <lisakc@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] MY PERSONAL BEST
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 15:42:36 -0400

There aren't too many clarinet jazzsters here, so I'll throw my very
amateur two cents in:

REEDS: I use Vandoren almost over anything else. I've tried Zondas, they
seem a bit to stiff to me, but I haven't tried them since reading on Sneezy
about the way they grade them. I may try them again. As a rule, I use
softer reeds-- 2's to 2.5's. They are a bit easier on me in terms of
bending notes, projection and jaw vibrato. Vandoren carries these thinner
reeds while Zonda doesn't. I haven't been happy with the Ricos and
Mitchell Luries I've tried.

METHOD BOOKS: Klose, Rubank and the Benny Goodman books are the ones I rely
on for warm-ups.

CLARINETS: I have zero experience with decent clarinets. I've tried the
Buffett R13 and Festival models, thanks to some very sympathetic and
indulgent salespeople over at Bronstein's Music here in South SF. I fell
in love with the Festival. Before I drop that kind of money though, I do
want to try some specifically jazz-designed models, like the LeBlanc Pete
Fountain.

MUSIC: I've attempted Mozart a few times, and it has reduced me to tears.
What can I say, legit music is beautiful, transcendent and I am totally
unworthy of it. Even in my community band I am at best a mediocre third
clarinetist; my feel for classical clarinet is stunted. I do play a much
better classical bass clarinet, I'm still floored by anything challenging.
I love the way the more modern composers score for wind band bass
clarinet-- Stravinsky, Hindemith, and in particular Vaclav Nelhybel.

As for jazz, the sky's the limit, really. But my absolute two favorite
jazz pieces to play on my bass clarinet are Billy Strayhorn's "A Flower is
a Lovesome Thing" and Coltrane's "Equinox". Both very different, but both
just moody enough for the bass clarinet.

MPC: I've tried a Jim Pyne jazz, a Tony DeFranco, the Vandoren crystal A4
and the Vandoren 5JB. Of these, the 5JB seems to suite me the best, using
a silver inverted Bonade ligature. This seems to help my intonation,
especially since my clarinet is a student Buffett B12 and can be a bit flat
in the throat tones.

FAVORITE CLARINETIST TO LEARN FROM: Surprised nobody volunteered this one.
Eric Dolphy, Don Byron and Pete Fountain are my three big obsessions right
now.

Lisa Clayton
lisakc@-----.com
clayton@-----.edu

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