 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: clarinetist04
Date: 2017-01-18 17:36
He was supposed to play it on Dec. 1 with the London Symphony (I was planning to go) in a stellar concert that also included Overture to The School for Scandal and Daphnis et Chloe #2 (and I think one other piece). They changed it in late August to be Mozart and a Beethoven or Schubert symphony or something like that. I've tried to find out what happened but there's absolutely no info out there when it will be rescheduled. From reading interviews with Bliss about his collaboration with Shorter I get the feeling that the piece is completed, but I'm really not sure what happened and the LSO didn't answer my inquiries about it.
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Author: brycon
Date: 2017-01-18 20:49
Frank Shorter or Wayne Shorter? I've never heard of a Frank Shorter. Wayne, however, is a genius; one of jazz's greatest improvisers and composers. A Wayne Shorter concerto would be incredible. I'd hope it would have some open, improvised sections. But Bliss's jazz "playing" is rather lame; not sure how persuasive Wayne's music would be in his hands.
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2017-01-18 23:04
Wayne Shorter it is. Frank Shorter is a runner from the glory days of the Boston Marathon when he and Bill Rodgers were stars in that event and the whole nation was caught up in the jogging craze. Frank probably has no connection with wind instruments or music other than a strong pair of lungs and great endurance--qualities befitting any clarinetist.
I wish Oliver Nelson, another fine jazz sax player/composer/arranger, had lived long past his 43 years; he could also have written a nicely blended classical/jazz clarinet concerto, though probably more conservative musically than what one would expect from Wayne Shorter today. Bliss seems to be a greatly talented player in search of some appropriate vehicle for his talents besides just repackaging his well-deserved childhood prodigy reputation by playing nostalgia pieces from the past for swing music fans and wowing audiences with warhorse classical showpieces. His association with Shorter seems sincere and his willingness to listen to contemporary jazz is admirable. He's still young and could find his own "crossover" style.
Post Edited (2017-01-18 23:22)
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Author: weidi
Date: 2017-04-28 14:40
It's gonna be played in September in Switzerland, Julian Bliss and argovia philharmonic. https://www.argoviaphil.ch/konzerte-und-angebote/saison-2017-18/abo-konzerte/
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2017-04-29 08:50
Shorter is a really fine sax player. He's played with so many big time players. I really like his sop. sax playing. The list of people whom he's played with and recorded with is long.
I'm excited to hear what he wrote for Julian. Julian is a very creative jazz player. I'm sure this will be fantastic and something very special.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2017-11-12 03:25
I went to the second performance of the piece (September 19). I was very excited because I'm a fan of Wayne Shorter (the recordings that I know, which are only a fraction of his output). The idea that a jazz legend like him wrote a clarinet concerto made it an unmissable event for me, especially in the hands of a player like Julian Bliss. I have to say that I was quite disappointed in the composition...
The clarinet writing is predominantly in the high register of the instrument and the solo part almost always needs to be played at loud dynamics otherwise it will be covered by the orchestra. Sometimes it really was covered by the orchestra, even though I think that Julian Bliss and the Argovia Philharmonic did an excellent job of the performance- the orchestration is simply too thick most of the time. (Note that what you hear on the recording from the link represents the microphone set-up. We heard even less clarinet in the live balance). I felt that a very limited amount of colours and possibilities of the clarinet were explored in the writing and couldn't help thinking that much of it seemed like writing for soprano sax: loud, angular and high-register. The clarinet part is all written out with no room for improvisation. Besides the opening (horn group, strings and piano) I didn't find much of interest in the orchestration. The form seemed to just ramble on much of the time without any clear development or variation.
I'll repeat that I think Julian Bliss did an excellent job of playing the solo part. But I expected a lot from Wayne Shorter and I'm very sad to say that, for me those expectations weren't met.
Post Edited (2017-11-12 03:28)
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2017-11-12 05:05
All the pre-concert journalism suggested that this would be a jazz piece. But, then, there is no particular reason why a player known for jazz improvisation shouldn't write a classical piece with no improvisation. The fact that Bliss has recently taken to playing jazz in public is also no reason to expect that he would play jazz in this concerto. I was surprised too that the piece came out like someone writing music for the big cinema screen, influenced perhaps a little by Hindemith with some exotic scales thrown in.
But the "Sherwood Forest" concerto is avowedly programmatic, an evocation of Robin Hood and his merry men in days of old. In that spirit, I think it works. It is jolly and English and bit folksy--an entertaining ramble through the woods. If sometimes the pied piper gets bit covered by the foliage, maybe that is part of the fun.
You thought "soprano sax," and I though "forest flute" when I realized that the soloist was never to descend to the comfortable registers of the instrument. Perhaps, that too is intended. Bliss does a wonderful job of "liberating" the upper register of the clarinet, playing with an indefatigable lightness and leanness of tone that I have never heard equaled. At a time when many players are leaning towards a wide, covered, dark, and heavy sound, it is refreshing to hear Bliss's musical and pleasing alternative.
The Shorter piece may not be great music but is it any less worthy than some of the showpieces Martin Frost is currently presenting? From what you say, the concerto may need some re-orchestration to put the clarinet more in the foreground, but Bliss on the radio take at least shows no signs of strain and bubbles along like a singing brook. He's an extraordinary clarinetist by any measure. If he comes anywhere near me to play this, I'll buy a ticket.
I heard Frank Shorter three or four years ago at the annual Jazz and Music Heritage Festival in New Orleans. His approach to improvisation there was very free form not unlike what Michael Portal does on bass clarinet. Lovers of most types of jazz from the past might not recognize what Shorter does now as jazz. It may be a matter of semantics, but he evidently improvises and writes music in whatever style he wants and is not much given to reprise old jazz hits or play at all to the nostalgia of his audience. Neither, for that matter, was Miles Davis. That may be one way of avoiding becoming a fossilized version of one's earlier self. Fans could yell at Davis to play the old favorites from the "Kind of Blue" days and he would whisper back, "go buy the record."
Post Edited (2017-11-12 07:14)
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Author: brycon
Date: 2017-11-12 09:34
Quote:
The clarinet writing is predominantly in the high register of the instrument and the solo part almost always needs to be played at loud dynamics otherwise it will be covered by the orchestra. Sometimes it really was covered by the orchestra, even though I think that Julian Bliss and the Argovia Philharmonic did an excellent job of the performance- the orchestration is simply too thick most of the time. (Note that what you hear on the recording from the link represents the microphone set-up. We heard even less clarinet in the live balance). I felt that a very limited amount of colours and possibilities of the clarinet were explored in the writing and couldn't help thinking that much of it seemed like writing for soprano sax: loud, angular and high-register. The clarinet part is all written out with no room for improvisation. Besides the opening (horn group, strings and piano) I didn't find much of interest in the orchestration. The form seemed to just ramble on much of the time without any clear development or variation.
I was pretty excited about Wayne writing something for the clarinet. Although I love his saxophone playing (Miles's Live at the Plugged Nickel features some incredibly burning Wayne--some of my favorite), I've always thought of him more as a composer. In addition to all his great post-bop tunes, he's been writing some more through-composed stuff for larger ensembles, such as his Alegria album (which features the great Chris Potter playing some bass clarinet).
But I echo your assessment of the concerto: meandering, dull, etc. It reminds me a bit of John Williams's "art" music insofar as it sounds like a film score but with no film (and like all of Williams's art music, it can't stand on its own). I also found it a huge orchestration oversight to limit the clarinet to the upper register; it further contributed to the lack of musical arch or narrative.
I'm a little bummed being let down by Wayne. I initially thought Bliss wouldn't be the right fit for his music. But aside from a few bars of horrible swing feel, he sounded good. But I can't help but wonder how Wayne would have approached the clarinet if he were writing for someone with a background in jazz and who could improvise (like Eddie Daniels, for example). It may not have changed all that much. If you listen to Alegria, however, you can hear some great longer pieces that have room for improvisation: alas, what could have been.
Post Edited (2017-11-12 10:27)
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