 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: jim sclater
Date: 2019-12-27 00:23
I confess to being a fan of Jimmy Guiffre's music and his playing. Started listening to him in the 'early '60's and have never stopped. Somewhere along the line I read that JG used an A clarinet when he played with Jim Hall in the trio they had. I checked many of the tunes he recorded with the various trios and indeed it does seem like the A clarinet was used. Does anyone know whether he did this to accommodate sharp keys for the guitar or did he just like the tone color better? Also, does anyone know of other players who regularly used the A clarinet in a jazz setting?
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Author: Djudy
Date: 2019-12-27 02:27
Great find ! I'm a big fan of Jim Hall and love his work with Bill Evans (Undercurents) but didn't know he played with a clarinetist. Or was Jimmy still on sax at that moment ? Did Jim & Jimmy ever record ? I found later stuff with him on clarinet in an incredible trio with Paul Bley and Steve Swallow, also very amazing and a landmark moment in jazz.
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Author: Djudy
Date: 2019-12-27 02:41
Found this, strange and wonderful trio cl, g, tb !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqDlUUtA-6E
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Author: jim sclater
Date: 2019-12-27 23:45
Judy,
I recommend you hear JG's CDs "7 Pieces" and "Easy Does It," both of which are available on Amazon. These both feature Jim Hall on guitar.
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Author: fromsfca
Date: 2019-12-30 01:12
In answer to your original question: Jimmy liked the sound of the clarinets low register...thinking the A would give him a darker sound.
In the 50s, he began teaching at the Lenox School of Jazz. When told he would be there to teach clarinet, among other things, the writer André Hodeir quipped, “Who will be teaching the upper register?”).
I’ve also heard a similar quote attributed to Jimmy Rowles who, when told Jimmy would be on a date, asked “who will be playing the upper register?”.
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Author: kilo
Date: 2019-12-30 13:21
I met Jimmy G when I was in high school, introduced to him by a family friend who was a well-known arranger. On that night he was using a Bb clarinet with a resonance hole drilled in the bell, something I had never seen nor heard of before.
I was going to relate that tale, fromsfca, but in my version it was Benny who said that!
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Author: ruben
Date: 2019-12-30 13:55
kilo: I too have always heard that funny retorter as being uttered by Benny Goodman. It sounds like something he would have said.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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The Clarinet Pages
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