 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: wjk
Date: 2003-08-06 15:06
What, in your opinion, is the future of jazz? What directions will the young players of today take? Will traditional forms be revived, or will different instruments and influences be incorporated? What role will the clarinet play?(to me, Don Byron has done fascinating recent work).
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Author: William
Date: 2003-08-06 15:14
If anyone can answer this question, please send me this weekends Lottery numbers ASAP!!!!!!
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2003-08-06 15:36
The future of Jazz? It'll be around.
The directions young players will take? Yhe ones they prefer, and not any that are pushed on them. That's part of what Jazz is all about.
Revival of traditional forms? They haven't gone anywhere. They're just not as prominent as they once were. Some sub-genres are hardly performed any longer although still enjoyed on old recordings by a substantial number of adherents. Or maybe we'll heal more live Be-Bop now and then, for example, but I'd hardly call that a "revival,"
Different instruments and influences? Certainly. Always happened, always will.
Role of the Clarinet? An accurate forecast would be impossible, but maybe we can make some assumptions based upon the race toward greater loudness and piercing tonality. Who would have predicted in the mid-twentieth century that the popularity of the cornet would be overwhelmed by the trumpet? (Who can name even three top cornet players today?) Perhaps the Clarinet will die except for its role in "period" orchestral pieces, a tool in the hands of diehard proponents such as Eddie Daniels, and as sort of an advanced Tonette for inexpensive entry into saxophone playing. If some manufacturer begins offering a $250 plastic saxophone, the days of the Clarinet may be numbered.
On the other hand, perhaps the Clarinet will assume the popularity now enjoyed by the electric guitar. But don't hold your breath waiting for that.
Regards,
John
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2003-08-06 15:39
William: I'm still waiting to see the headline, "Psychic Wins Lottery"
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2003-08-06 15:41
Speaking just about Don Byron's music, my impression is that what he's doing is synthesizing a bunch of different cultural styles (i.e. 'fusion') in some very interesting ways -- however, to my ear the presence of the clarinet on his recordings is incidental --- he could just have well played saxophone or flute or other instruments to produce a comparable effect -- but that's just my 'whine of the morning' for today. My crystal ball is no better than William's, so I'll stay out of the prognostication business.
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Author: Eileen
Date: 2003-08-06 18:56
I saw a commercial on TV this morning for Yo-Yo Ma Plays Brazilian Jazz! (Or something like that). Clarinet was featured prominently in the commercial, maybe even more than the cello.
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Author: msloss
Date: 2003-08-06 19:28
The great thing about jazz is that its development path has been as improvisational as the music itself. You don't know what the next tweak or leap will be, which is what makes it an exciting living art form to follow.
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2003-08-06 20:37
More derivation of original forms ("That's jazz - it sounds like Dixie") due to limited airplay on the radio seems likely.
Modern music always fights trends and has limited appeal to a broad audience, until The Kids make it cool.
I predict that West Coast cool will make a come back, and Bop will die, for the same reasons that Disco won't...
If you want to hear real fusion, find a Brazilian or Cuban radio station.
Some of the West African stuff is slick, too.
("Ya can patcher foot to it... that's nice!)
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Author: hans
Date: 2003-08-10 14:53
Maybe the opinions of jazz great Oscar Peterson will help illuminate this topic?
In my morning newspaper (Toronto Star) yesterday, there was an interview with Peterson, who will be 78 on Friday. Although he is a pianist, his opinions probably have some relevance for the clarinet and Jazz in general.
Unfortunately the article is too big to fit on my scanner, but here are some quotations and excerpts from it:
- "We play festivals, but now we inquire who's on the bill. We wonder sometimes why some bands are scheduled. We're getting picky, but they can ruin your music."
- His assessment of Jazz today: "Jazz is in a very precarious state. There are fewer idols and lots of experimentalists and jazz is being thrust back onto its history. After being around with Dizzy Gillespie, Ellington, and Basie, it's so disheartening when I hear experimentalists. They just haven't got it and the grazing field the good ones occupy has diminished."
- "It's so very sad, it makes me wonder why we were successful."
- He's particularly annoyed at what rock music has done to the guitar: "now it's just noise".
- Peterson is equally mad at record companies and radio stations. “Record companies are only interested in returns. That’s crude. Bookers and jazz jockeys won’t give you the time of day. Young people need a place to try out their music, as I did at the Alberta Lounge when I was a student…”
- “Radio has been very aloof. They believe they’re elitists, ultra-hip. Musicians have attitude but they have worse attitude, so jazz is being provided by people who are not close to the music. As for smooth jazz, there are no excuses for it. One can only take so much.”
- “Jazz is being taken for granted and doesn’t get respect. It needs people who are dedicated."
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Author: wjk
Date: 2003-08-10 15:34
The guitar has played a wonderful role is jazz-rock fusion---and I'd love to see more modern attempts at this. Guitarist John Mclaughlin played in a wonderful organ combo with ex-Miles drummer Tony Williams in the late sixties. Mclaughlin's guitar solos there are exemplary---they remind me of Coltrane.
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