 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: wjk
Date: 2003-06-26 14:58
I am of the opinion, that once in a while, it is good to "shake things up" and try something new and unexpected. In a musical context, I believe a classically trained bassonist would benefit from jamming with rock musicians. What have bulletin board readers done (in a musical or non-musical) context to "shake things up"? What benefits have you extracted from the experience?
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Author: William
Date: 2003-06-26 15:28
I have "jammed" (on alto sax) with Nashville country guitar pickers for the grand opening of a local Sam's Club--even had the chance to talk with (multi billionaire) Sam Walton himself about musky fishing "up north." The star of the show was the beautiful blue violin playing lady (don't recall her name this am) once featured on the old TV "Hee-Haw" show--and she "fiddeled" up a storm. But her warm-up in the green room was the "Flight of the Bumblebee" revealing her classical abilities.
Additionally, our local univeristy's emeritus professor of bassoon, used to "moonlight" with Chicago jazzers playing tenor sax (while he did his steady gig with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra).
I have an old record of the Northwestern Jazz Ensemble whose cover features a picture of the ensemble with Russ Dagon on tenor sax. His later credits include Principal Clarinet with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and current Professor of Clarinet at Northwestern University.
The list of prominet examples of musical "cross-over" could go on and on (and it most likely will as more postings occur)
The more varied the "tools" you carry in your gig bag of experiance, the more passonate you become in all styles of music--that's my opinion (and practice).
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Author: Henry
Date: 2003-06-26 15:49
Right after the War (WWII) in the Netherlands, when I was of a very tender age (~10), my father, my older brother and myself had a family "variety show act" in which my father and I played xylophone, while my brother accompanied us on accordion. We had three xylophones: a regular one made out of wood, one made out of glass tubes, and one made out of brass tubes (the latter two totally constructed by my dad, who was very handy indeed!). Although I'm sure it would sound rather corny by today's standards, we had tremendous success. Don't forget that in those gloomy days, people were just hungry for any form of entertainment! I'm not sure this meets the criteria for "shaking things up" but we certainly did in those days.
By the way, I haven't touched (or seen) a xylophone for about 50 years now!
Henry
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2003-06-26 16:44
I used to bring my bass clarinet once in a while to Sunday-afternoon jazz jams to mix it up with the trumpets and saxes (I was a 'regular' on tenor and bari sax at these same sections) --- it was fun and the audience appreciated hearing something a bit different.
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Author: ron b
Date: 2003-06-26 19:20
Eons ago, L.A. area Hot Jazz (Sunday p.m.) meeting, a young soprano sax player took a few choruses on a plastic (toy) 'whistle'.
Brought down the house 
I secretly wished at the time that I'd thought of that.
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Author: William
Date: 2003-06-26 19:57
Years ago, at a jazz festival featuring my friend, clarinetist Chuck Hedges, another featured artist, the great Benny Carter, left his "smok'n" alto sax off-stage and returned to the spotlight to play an encore on his trumpet. And he was Good!!
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Author: allencole
Date: 2003-06-27 04:59
I'm filling in for the bassoonist in a woodwind quinet this Sunday using my bass clarinet. The experience of transposing at sight stirs up all sorts of mental processes and I have greatly enjoyed my rehearsals with the group.
I also enjoy sitting in with bands in tandem with a close friend who also plays reeds. We play off of each other very well, and have done a wide variety of different things playing off the tops of our heads.
Most of this began as a child. My mother is a church organist and I quickly became interested in the way she was manipulating her music to fit various activities during the service. We also had friends over the house who played country music. I tried sitting in on clarinet as a 6th grader (crashed & burned, BTW), but quickly learned that these folks used a lot of unusual notes, and talked a lot about what key they were in.
Allen Cole
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Author: Benni
Date: 2003-06-28 22:13
Ron -
Sounds like a very "Rollini-esque" thing to do . . . hehe 
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