 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: fmadison
Date: 2003-11-07 22:29
Hi,
I am of course!
LoL just kidding.
I don't think that question could ever be answered.
You would need a method to quantify a Clarinet player.
It is not like Basketball where one can keep stats and say...
That Michael Jordan guy is pretty good... based on his stats.
The good thing for the Clarinet world is that there are many great Clarinet players out there all over the world. Each in their own unique way stand out from the crowd. I am happy to see that there are many out there.
-Frank
It's the wood that makes it good!
Post Edited (2003-11-08 00:43)
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Author: GBK
Date: 2003-11-07 23:06
Johnny Galaga asked:
> Who do you all think is the best clarinet player in the world ?
Easy, but answer a few other questions first...
Who makes the best mouthpiece in the world? What are the best reeds in the world? What is the best ligature in the world? Who makes the best clarinet in the world? Who is the best repairperson in the world? What is the best cork grease in the world? The best swab? The best case?
Ask 100 clarinetists, get 500 answers.
Need I go on?
Spend less time wondering about all the potential "bests" and more time on day-to-day music and music making.
The most important question to ask is if you are enjoying what you are doing and achieving what you want with the best equipment and teachers you can afford... GBK
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Author: theclarinetist
Date: 2003-11-08 00:16
There isn't one correct way to play the clarinet. In the absence of a set reference point for "goodness", it's impossible to figure out who is the closest to this non-existent point.
Unlike some people, however, I don't think this is a stupid question. It's just one that has no answer. If you're looking for quality players to listen to and use for "inspirational" purposes, there are a variety of really good ones who all have something different to offer. Perhaps search the posts for similar discussions, or rephrase your question to something like "who are good clarinet players to listen to" or "Which pro players are the best "models" - or something like that... This'll probably get you a more useful answer!
Good luck
Don Hite
PS - in my OPINION, of all the clarinet players I've heard (and this is admittedly a small percentage of the total players out there), Stoltzman and Victoria Soames are my favorites (this doesn't make them the "BEST", I just enjoy listening to their playing a lot).
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2003-11-08 00:54
The greatest clarinetist in the world?
This question requires serious thought.
Send it to me, in writing, on the back of a fiddy-dolla beel.
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Author: ron b
Date: 2003-11-08 02:04
In 'my' world it's the person who plays duets with the best fiddler in town 
I'm not too sure about the whole world.
- r![[cool]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/cool.gif) n b -
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2003-11-08 04:01
Best clarinet player in the world? I don't think there is one.
I greatly enjoy Eddie Daniels, but so what? I'm not even the best Clarinet _listener_ in the world.
Regards,
John
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Author: vin
Date: 2003-11-08 04:17
Arnold Steinhardt, the first violinist of the Guarneri Quartet, once recounted a story that went something along the lines of...
One day while practicing at Meadowmount (summer festival for string players), Arnold was interrupted by a knock at the door. Another student poked his head in and said "I've been listening to you and in my estimation, you are the third greatest violinist in the world."
"Oh, really?" said Arnold "Who is first and who is second?"
"Well," the kid replied "Jascha Heifitz is first and everyone else is tied for second."
Food for thought...
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2003-11-08 04:49
Lots of funny stories and good points from GBK. I must say though that I do have an opinion that I simply must share. My recent posts about Ivo Papazov on the Ethnic clarinet board are relevant, but I must say that during the lesson I had with him yesterday, I heard many different styles (jazz to classical to folk to crazy stuff), and all of them were extremely well-done. This man COULD play in any symphony orchestra in the world, but plays the music of his soul (from some greater power perhaps?)...
If you haven't heard him, check out the recordings (sadly they're out-of-print right now but you might scrounge them from a library). Then imagine these recordings played much more freely/improvisatorially (is that a word?)...and with 500 screaming audience members.
Katrina
(who wishes this sort of stuff were easier to put into words...)
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Author: LeWhite
Date: 2003-11-08 06:39
Maybe, just maybe, without getting nasty, we could answer this post with our personal opinons?
Although I don't have a favorite clarinetist (I actually dislike more than I like about a large majority of them), but in answer to GBK's questions...
Who makes the best mouthpiece in the world? Gregory Smith.
What are the best reeds in the world? Gonzalez.
What is the best ligature in the world? Bonade Inverted.
Who makes the best clarinet in the world? LeBlanc / Tom Ridenour.
Who is the best repairperson in the world? Lisa Brannen.
What is the best cork grease in the world? Dr. Slick
The best swab? Again, The Doc's.
The best case? BAM, any.
IMO.
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Author: Mike Blinn
Date: 2003-11-08 08:19
In my country (the U.S. of A.), people and things are judged by money. The best, living clarinetist is the one who has made the most money playing the clarinet.
My guess is that number one would be Pete Fountain, who has been selling tons of records for decades. Number two is probably Artie Shaw, who had more hits than Pete but retired a long time ago. Who's next? Acker Bilk perhaps? Stoltzman? Feldman?
I don't know of any other way to judge who the best clarinetist is.
Mike Blinn
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Author: BobD
Date: 2003-11-08 13:34
Based on past posts by Johnny we are aware that he is not a novice and so we figure this post is philosophical. Because so much music is recorded we can also assume that he doesn't just include living clarinetists. Like Jack Benny said, "I'm thinking"......
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2003-11-08 14:12
Mike Blinn wrote:
> In my country (the U.S. of A.), people and things are judged by
> money. The best, living clarinetist is the one who has made the
> most money playing the clarinet.
In MY country, the U.S. of A., we have a great number of people with different opinions on how to judge things. Only one of the many ways is by money, and sometimes, quantitatively it counts.
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2003-11-08 14:30
Good point, Mark. Frequently, the one who makes the most money in most any field is the one who has done the best job of marketing him/herself. Or the one who just happened to be in the right place at the right time.
For example, Madonna and Michael Jackson have made tons of money (and now Britney is pulling it in), but are they necessarily the best singers in the world? I doubt it. Just some of the more popular ones. Many opera singers could be argued to be better, but they chose to direct their talents to a less appreciated form of singing. Madonna, Michael and Britney are darn good at marketing themselves (or someone who works for them is).
Bill Gates is the richest man in the world. Is he the best computer scientist? No. When he was company president, was he the best at that? No. He was pretty good at those things, but he also happened to be in the right field doing the right thing at the right time and made a few very good decisions.
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Author: hans
Date: 2003-11-08 15:08
IMO, the title of "Best Clarinet Player in the World" would have to go the person who had demonstrated the most complete mastery of the instrument - and how should we define that?
Commercial success, given in a previous post as a criterion, would produce a ranking based on the preferences of listeners; however, much of the radio listening and record buying public can't distinguish a clarinet from a saxophone. In addition, commercial success often results from factors other than proficiency so that it may not be very relevant .
We could keep this thread going for years by using the paired comparison technique but IMO consensus is impossible.
Hans
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Author: john gibson
Date: 2003-11-08 18:02
ARTIE SHAW......then PETE FOUNTAIN.....then Dr. MICHAEL WHITE...then
PEE WEE RUSSELL......then SIDNEY BECHET....then BENNY GOODMAN.....
then EDDIE DANIELS.....
as for classical....they're all good........trained to read not "play", so they all rely on tuning....tone....and not "feel" lke the great players in JAZZ....
At least that's what I think being a musician rather than a "reader" of music...
John
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Author: allencole
Date: 2003-11-08 18:09
The best player out there is probably someone we don't even know about. Hardly anyone knew about Eddie Daniels before snuck in his clarinet solo on that Thad Jones album and got his TDWR from Downbeat.
The authors of Classical Music for Dummies point out that every year music schools are pouring out talented players, many of whom could compete with many established solo artists.
Short of our own reality TV show, I don't know how we'd ever find the answer. I'm definitely not the one you're looking for, so that would certainly qualify me to sit on the panel of such a show. It will be my job to tell all the finalists that their sound isn't 'dark' enough. Laser pointer, anyone?
Allen Cole
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Author: Ralph G
Date: 2003-11-08 18:47
Just find the best clarinet in the world, then find out who plays it. You can safely say that person is the "best clarinet" player.
________________
Artistic talent is a gift from God and whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste this talent, but must develop it.
- Pope John Paul II
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2003-11-08 19:48
Money and placques are good ways to keep score.
Odd how few Grammy-award winning recordings I own.
****
And to quote two serious players, that are good enough to get money out of my pocket BEFORE playing a single note:
"Equipment does not determine my sound; practice does."
I suppose the question really should be directed...
Who is the greates player you know, that the rest of us have never heard?
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Author: Markus Wenninger
Date: 2003-11-08 20:11
Anthony Braxton. Louis Sclavis. Ned rothenberg. Armand Angster. J.D. Parran. Harry Spaarnay. Eduard Brunner. Suzanne Stephens. This guy I don´t know the name of who played the "Esprit rude/Esprit doux" by E.Carter so perfectly it frightened me.
It doesn´t hurt to name masters.
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Author: Maldran
Date: 2003-11-09 00:16
Living in Arizona, I have seen Robert Spring play a couple times. He is having another Free concert on the 15th of this month and on the 20th. He is the most phenomenal that I have personally heard. "Flight of the Bumble bee" enough said. The guy can flat out play.
Terrell
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Author: ClaRiNeT_CaNdY
Date: 2003-11-09 15:53
Me. . of c0urse i'm just joking... Well, no one reallys knows for sure who's the best..
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2003-11-09 19:18
There was a post from
"Katrina
(who wishes this sort of stuff were easier to put into words...)"
Katrina, if everything could be put into words easily, then music would be unnecessary. And we would miss it greatly.
Regards,
John
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Author: SuzyQ
Date: 2003-11-09 19:52
So true! Thanks for the inspiring thought~
JMcAulay wrote:
> Katrina, if everything could be put into words easily, then
> music would be unnecessary. And we would miss it greatly.
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Author: ned
Date: 2003-11-10 04:40
Who's the best clarinet player? It's simple really - it's that person whom YOU would really like to sound like.
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2003-11-10 17:18
Yeah, John...that's it...
Wish I could PLAY what I wanted to say on the BB!
Katrina
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Author: Luke
Date: 2003-11-12 20:31
Look at Kenny G. on sax. Though he is well-marketed and makes a ton of money, I doubt ANY saxophonist will tell you that they think Kenny G is the best. I'd think clarinet is similar in this regard.
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