Klarinet Archive - Posting 000598.txt from 2006/03

From: "Ted Casher" <tedcasher@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] re: keys
Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2006 10:18:48 -0500

Ted Casher here. Gotta support Dan Leeson's postings----one can play almost
any tune in any key, but some are more forgiving than others!

I had a steady Friday night at Boston's (Logan) Airport Hilton for several
years, with the Al Vega Trio. All the jazz and pop singers in the
area---good and bad---came in to sing a few tunes on the mike, accompanied
by a good trio. One of the greatest moments occurred when a girl sang
"Through The Eyes Of Love" in a perfect East Boston accent, while holding
the mic in the manner of one about to embark upon the Lewinsky maneuver!

But I digress. Back to the clarinet! In the jazz literature composed in
recent years, Clare Fisher's "Pensativa," written in the concert key of Gb,
lays well on the Bb clarinet, and is a pleasure to play. Clare loves the
clarinet, and has Gary Foster as the alpha player of his new compositions.
I love to play "Pensativa," and will play it every chance I get!

However, the original version of "Spain," in the key of B minor, written by
my old buddy, Chick Corea, is well-nigh impossible, once you get to the
clapping section. One of my goals is to play it 5 times a day until I get
it on automatic pilot----there are finger patterns in the throat tones that
would challenge Eddie Daniels!

I haven't tried Coltrane's "Giant Steps" yet! I will give you a report
after having done it---preferably after having ingested a triple dose of
maximum strength glucosamine/chondritin, a capsule of Celebrex, three pills
of fish oil, and spraying my hands with WD-40!

But----a key is a key is a key! Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor like the
key of D---so did Hoagy Carmichael! Most singers who perform in the keys of
A, E, and B started off as bad guitar players!

I ascribe no particular emotions to keys! Just the emotion evidenced by my
dear friend, Dick Johnson, the leader of the Artie Shaw Orchestra, and a
giant of a clarinetist, who says, each morning, as he puts the stick
together:

"OK, clarinet---what are you going to do to me today!"

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