Klarinet Archive - Posting 000470.txt from 1999/12

From: Daniel Leeson <leeson0@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Sad news
Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 18:17:27 -0500

It saddens me to have to report that one of America's very best
jazz and swing clarinetists, Walter Levinsky, died today, Dec. 16.
I am not on klarinet very much because of other commitments, but
I did want to get back on to post this message.

So if it has already appeared, just keep in mind that I have been
out of it for about a month.

Walt was my very first teacher. I was 10 and he was 13. To me,
playing the clarinet meant only one thing: fast. Everything was
to be played as fast as humanly possible or even faster. He gave
me a lesson (actually I had a teacher but Walt was the thing in
Paterson, NJ in 1942 so I figured that if he taught me all he knew,
then I was sure to be made king very quickly). After the lesson
he said to my brother, "Nothing I can do for him. He's crazy to
play everything so fast and there is nothing I can teach him
about technique. But I have met shoe trees who are more musical."

Does anyone besides me know of Walt's playing. It was delicious
(but a lot slower than me).
--
Dan Leeson
leeson0@-----.net

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