Klarinet Archive - Posting 001261.txt from 2000/12

From: Sherry Mayrent <oyfpro@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Re:Klezmer question
Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2000 16:39:14 -0500

At 09:15 AM 12/26/00 +0000, klarinet-digest-help@-----.org wrote:

> What would you say to a beginner who asks, "What is required in
>order to produce the klezmer tone?"

As I sit in my room at Klez Kamp, where I teach clarinet, I am moved to
answer that there is no such thing as "klezmer tone" -- some people play
nasally, others play with as fine a tone as they would use for
Mozart. Klezmer isn't so much about tone as it is about ornamentation and
a lot of other complex elements, including rhythm and melodic embellishment.

What is really required by the beginner, in addition to some serious
clarinet chops, is to study with someone who knows the style and is a good
teacher, either at a program like Klez Kamp or Klez Kanada or privately.

> If anyone here has heard a jazz clarinetist named Jim Beatty, does
>he use a variation of 'klezmer technique' (whatever this is) --- on his
>Christmas album at least, which is the only album of his that I've heard
>--- or is he doing something else that hints at klezmer but is
>functionally different?

Never heard of this fellow, but the idea of assessing klezmer technique on
a Christmas album is rather interesting <G>.

Sherry Mayrent
Wholesale Klezmer Band
www.wholesaleklezmer.com

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