The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: redwine
Date: 2010-05-24 19:33
Hello,
Artie Shaw would have been 100 yesterday, had he lived. He was my favorite jazz clarinetist of all time. I remember being driven to the airport in Madrid in 2004. The radio was on with just Spanish (of which I don't speak). In the middle of many Spanish words, I heard "Artie Shaw". I knew he must have died then. If you haven't heard him on recordings, I think his small group stuff is the best. If you haven't read the books he wrote, they are not great, but are entertaining. I believe a new biography of his life has just been released. I don't recall the author. The best biography of him that I have found is in the controversial Richard Sudhalter book entitled Lost Chords. I'll be listening to Artie all week!
Ben Redwine, DMA
owner, RJ Music Group
Assistant Professor, The Catholic University of America
Selmer Paris artist
www.rjmusicgroup.com
www.redwinejazz.com
www.reedwizard.com
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2010-05-24 20:56
Three Chords for Beauty's Sake--the life of Artie Shaw
by Tom Nolan 2010 W.W. Norton, publishers
in hardback
Ben, I will communicate my critique of the book via private email
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
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Author: MarlboroughMan
Date: 2010-05-26 17:03
Thanks for posting this, Ben. It is a good companion piece to mark the passing of Hank Jones, and I'm listening to their sessions right now, thank to this tip...
I think the implications of Shaw's work run deeper than we often consider. Recently on this list there was a debate about a clarinetist who was accused of having a "saxophoney" sound. It's worth mentioning that Shaw was accused of the same thing by none other than Benny Goodman.
But Shaw's sound concept ended up heavily influencing even certain American orchestral players (I seem to remember reading somewhere that Franklin Cohen acknowledged a debt to Shaw's playing and sound, which was refreshing coming from a top orchestral player).
What's the use of all sounding the same? Shaw legacy suggests we all might benefit by being less dogmatic and more open-minded when it comes to rating Great clarinet playing, cuz his surely was Great.
Eric
******************************
The Jazz Clarinet
http://thejazzclarinet.blogspot.com/
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