 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Echronome
Date: 2014-04-14 09:57
So my band director wants me to be in jazz band next year on bass clari to add a unique sound to it. What things should i invest in to get a 'jazzy' type of sound. i.e mouthpieces, reeds, ligatures
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Author: Wes
Date: 2014-04-14 10:24
Many have played jazz on a bass clarinet with a standard free-playing setup. Just play a good strong sound with jazz feeling, etc. Competing with louder saxophones for a balanced section will not be easy. How about playing the saxophone?
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Author: MarlboroughMan
Date: 2014-04-14 16:08
My recommendation: play the bass clarinet well--with a full, strong sound, developing control over as much of its vast range as you can manage.
I strongly suggest that you avoid listening to and/or emulating really bad jazz bass clarinet 'legends' who sound like they're strangling an emu when they play in the upper registers. (If it sounds really bad, it usually IS really bad, whatever some clever critic or historian might have opined).
If you work to gain real skill on the horn, and you gear that work towards jazz expression, the equipment isn't really important at this point--except insofar as it allows you mastery of the bass clarinet.
Good luck and keep swinging.
Eric
******************************
The Jazz Clarinet
http://thejazzclarinet.blogspot.com/
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2014-04-14 16:10
>Competing with louder saxophones for a balanced section will not be easy. How about playing the saxophone?
>
A good band director won't let the saxomaniacs drown you out. Bass clarinet is a terrific instrument for jazz! One thing you might try is using a tenor saxophone reed intended for jazz, instead of a clarinet reed. I'm an amateur, but fwiw, I find that with a tenor sax reed, I'm a bit louder and project a bit better on bass clarinet.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: DougR
Date: 2014-04-14 21:02
What Eric said.
As to the volume issue, there's "loudness" and there's "projection"--they're not the same thing, and it's entirely possible to play at a comfortable volume and still project your horn's voice in a section perfectly well, without playing "loud."
As to who to listen to, I'd say listen to whoever inspires you, regardless of instrument. I'm a bass clarinetist and the guy I personally listen to for inspiration is Bob Brookmeyer. He was a jazz valve trombonist and composer, whose jazz conception and technique is absolutely how I would love to play myself, AND, the range of his instrument is exactly that of bass clarinet so it's easy to hear me doing what he does (though I'm light-years away from being able to do it). But it's YOUR taste that counts, not mine. You might pull up you tubes of Louis Sclavis, a French bass clarinetist, and see if he inspires you. Or Michael Lowenstern, a contemporary solo bass clarinetist. Or do a Youtube search for "Bob Brookmeyer and Jim Hall". (why not, you're experimenting, right?) Or…. ??
The guy I study with, a top Broadway doubler, favors a Fobes San Francisco bass clarinet mouthpiece, and blue-box Vandoren 3-1/2s. But for "jazz sound," I vote for "make the purest, best sound the instrument is capable of, regardless of equipment," and it'll be just fine for jazz playing.
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Author: ruben
Date: 2014-04-14 23:21
I agree about Eric Dolphy, but as a "section man" on the bass clarinet, there will always be a place in my heart for Harry Carney of the Duke Ellington band. He had an enormous sound, both in terms of volume and richness. It's a pity he ne never soloed on the bass clarinet.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: MarlboroughMan
Date: 2014-04-14 23:59
Harry Carney was incredible. Very few ever laid down a solo as well as he did on those Duke ballads--usually on bari. I agree with Ruben--wish he'd soloed on bass clarinet. For an entire album. Or two.
Eric
******************************
The Jazz Clarinet
http://thejazzclarinet.blogspot.com/
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Author: Steven Ocone
Date: 2014-04-15 03:05
You might email Todd Marcus. http://toddmarcusjazz.com. Very nice guy and great musician.
Steve Ocone
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Author: Merlin_Williams
Date: 2014-04-16 16:41
Harry Carney with Strings has at least one track with him playing bass clarinet.
Jupiter Canada Artist/Clinician
Stratford Shakespeare Festival musician
Woodwind Doubling Channel Creator on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/WoodwindDoubling
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Author: ruben
Date: 2014-04-17 15:01
Thank you Merlin! I was unaware of the existence of this Harry Carney record. The arrangements are by Ralph Burns, who composed "Early Autumn". I should think it's a pretty hard album to find. There's only one selection from it on YouTube.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2014-04-19 15:07
+1 regarding Todd Marcus. I've met him and recently purchased his latest CD. He's a fabulous player and I think his style and music are perhaps more relevant to current players than, for example, Harry Carney's or even Eric Dolphy's (both of whom were great players, don't get me wrong).
A little story regarding Todd -- maybe 7 or 8 years ago when I still owned a metal Kohlert bass clarinet (which had been nicknamed "Frankenhorn" by someone and discussed on this BB), Todd heard about it and, in his search for a bass clarinet with more 'edge' and projection to help him cut through the band, he came over to try out my instrument -- despite my telling him that the material of the instrument body makes no audible difference in the sound so that Frankehorn would sound just like a good wood or hard rubber instrument! He came anyway, tried the instrument, and evidently agreed with what I had told him -- he would not gain the desired "cut" by a change of instrument material alone. Nevertheless I enjoyed meeting him and hearing him play in my living room.
For more beboppish bass clarinet playing, check out the album Herbie Mann (yes, the flutist Herbie Mann) did on bass clarinet; as well as Bob Mintzer's bass clarinet work with Don Grolnick, etc.
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Author: Filettofish
Date: 2014-04-19 23:25
To return to the topic of setup: I agree with the earlier comments stating that a "standard" bass clarinet setup will suffice in jazz. I play Vandoren Traditional 4 reeds on bass clarinet, and they yield a very thick sound. As earlier stated, a good director won't let sax players overwhelm the lone bass clarinet. However, if this does occur and the saxes are playing at an unrestrained volume, just remember to keep your air focused and your sound big; the bass clarinet has a unique timbre compared to all saxophones.
If you're looking for inspiration, Dolphy, Mintzer, Lowenstern, and Marcus Miller are all killer bass clarinet players. Consider opening your doors to all instruments though to pick up phrasing. Sax players like Coltrane or Shorter, horn players like Miles, piano players like Ellington, Gene Krupa on drums, even vocalists like Tony Bennett and Al Jarreau; the point is, look EVERYWHERE for new rhythms and melodic devices which you an incorporate into your playing, to forge your unique style. Hope I could help!
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Author: ruben
Date: 2014-04-20 12:39
There is also Louis Sclavis here in France: classically trained but who exclusively plays jazz on the bass clarinet. He is a brilliant musician, but I find his playing to cerebral for me.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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