 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2005-10-16 23:29
I've been asked to play in a band that will specialize in music from the 1920's (jazz and popular music). I'm not really familiar with this music at all, except for the Cole Porter and Gerswhin tunes that have become standards. Who would you recommend that I listen to to get to know the style? Any clarinet players in particular?
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2005-10-17 00:39
Hi Liq. - I stumbled on a jazz book at our library's bookstore which devotes 30 pages to discussing the growth of white and black jazz in the 20's, with major mention of Paul Whiteman and Louie Armstrong, and the early "learnings" of Artie Shaw and others who gained their fame in the 30's. This is a PB, "Jazz in American Culture" by Burton W Peretti, and I'm sure there are many others, I might have more, will look. Milton Mesirow [cl] was mentioned and bands such as Ellington's and others had cl'ists worthy of "study", I'm sure, just dont have or recognise names, I was just learning to play then !, do remember ?Ben? Powell band et al. Will post again when I find/recall more. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: David Stringer
Date: 2005-10-17 01:44
I'm partial to the Pasedena Roof Orchestra, a British group. They don't stick entirely to the Twenties, but they cover a lot of it (them?).
If I remember correctly, the twenties clarinet stuff feels a lot like New Orleans jazz.
David
David
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2005-10-17 01:55
Corr'n, Pollack not Powell. The book, Ellington by J L Collier is well worth considerable study, it is highly indexed to help scanning. Jazz by L Hughes mentions Barney Bigard [with Basie and Ell.], J Dorsey and W Herman and of course B Goodman were learning the trade then, too. Most gained fame in the 30-40s, prob. most recordings will be from then. I have some cassette tapes of early jazz, ?Smithsonian?, will look for them, might list players? Fun to search/re-search. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: ghuba
Date: 2005-10-17 02:59
Consider listening carefully to the CD compilation Clarinet Marmalade (available on Amazon) which has highly selected tracks from 25 great jazz clarinetists from the 20s and 30s. This CD has been discussed before on this Board. If you like some of the styles represented, you can fairly easily identify CDs containing a lot of material from many of these artists.
Among the clarinetists of the current generation who "best" captures the 20s/30s jazz sound, especially in its New Orleans variant, is Dr. Michael White. Dr. White has several CDs recorded within the past half dozen years.
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Author: ghuba
Date: 2005-10-17 03:08
And, if you want to "experience" the 20s sound on a 20s clarinet, consider looking for a good Selmer K series horn. Unrestored Selmer Ks seem to be auctioned in the range of from $250-$400, and several I have owned became great "period" instruments with $300 worth of restorations, and perhaps a vintage mouthpiece. In my judgment, a good K has a really "smoky" and "woody" tone that is very consistent with the styles of the masters represented on the Clarinet Marmalade CD.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2005-10-17 06:42
I advise not to get a new clarinet just for this, unless your current clarinet is bad or something.
I'm not sure when was the Ellington band, but I think it was after the 20s (at least the recordings), but this band has very good clarinet players. Ellingtons's clarinetists try to imitate Benny Goodman a lot, but that is after the 20s probably, I'm not too good with history.
Also Louis Armstrong had a clarinet player in his groups, I think both the Hot 5 and the Hot 7. It is Johnny Dodds who is very good. I think Barney Bigard also played with Louis Armstrong but I'm not sure.
Those book recommendations you got are probably good, but I think you should listen more than read.
Any Louis Armstrong CD with Johnny Dodds or Barney Bigard will be good, like the Hot 5 and Hot 7 CDs. The ones I have are Louis Armstrong & Earl Hines Vol. 4 (where it sometimes took me a while to recognize the clarinet the first time I heard it, the sound is so different than anything I've heard), Louis Armstrong plays W.C. Handy which is not from the 20s, but the tunes are very similar in style.
A good CD by Ellington with a lot of clarinet playing is Afro Bossa (I think from around 1940, but the clarinet playing is excellent and will help you with 20s music a lot too).
Another CD that capture the old new orleans jazz pretty good is Wynton Marsalis Mr. Jelly Lord - Standard Time Vol. 6. Sometimes the improvisations will be a little modern, but the clarinet is playing pretty standard if I remember correct. Overall not a great CD actually, but very informative to the style.
Good luck.
Post Edited (2005-10-17 07:01)
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2005-10-17 08:09
Thanks very much for all your answers. I'll try to get hold of as much as I can from what you've recommended. Thanks!
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2005-10-17 10:58
Go to:
http://www.naxos.com/
and click on "Jazz Legends"
They have issued several recordings from to the 20's (and around 120 overall from the 20's-40's). In particular, Ted Lewis, "Is Everybody Happy" might be worth looking at. You should be able to listen to about the first 25% of each cut for free. If Naxos offers the option where you are, you may be able to subscribe for the equivalent of about $US20 for a year. That will let you listen to 100%. BTW, many (most? all?) of these recordings are not available in the U.S. but you can listen to them on the website.
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: BobD
Date: 2005-10-17 11:40
Rent and view both versions of the movie "Pennies From Heaven". One with Steve Martin....the shorter version and the other the longer Brit version with Bo Hopkins. Both are full of songs from the era.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Ah Clem
Date: 2005-10-17 16:12
Sidney Bechet is very different from most players of the period, but is quite interesting to listen to.
Benny Goodman made a couple of recordings with Bix Biederbeck which are pretty interesting too.
Ah Clem
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Author: ghuba
Date: 2005-10-17 20:31
A number of jazz cuts by major artists from the 1920s and 1930s are available as single tracks -- as well as whole albums -- on iTunes for download. One thing I like to do is to download versions of the same song by many different artists and see the different approaches to a standard song of the era.
George
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2005-10-17 21:40
Thank you all for your responses. You have been very helpful. I've ordered 'clarinet marmalade' and checked out some of the other links given.
ghuba, are there any specific tracks you recommend that are available on iTunes? I'm specifically interested in the playing styles of the 1920's, not just songs from then with a more recent interpretations. Thanks!
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Author: Terry Stibal
Date: 2005-10-17 22:27
One thing to keep in mind with music from the 1920s and early 1930s is that it was customary to have many, many, many, MANY verses and choruses in a given piece. Stuff from the musical comedies of the era has perhaps three sets of verses and choruses up front, followed by a slew of dance choruses, and then one last vocal chorus to round it out.
After a while, it's like having a musical wood rasp applied to your ears. Very irritating.
I've been told (by an "old timer" back in the 1950's when I was a young shaver) that the repetition was for sales purposes. The more a group heard a tune, the more they would remember it, and then the more that they would want the sheet music for it (in those early days of recording), thus ensuring another 1/10th of a cent of profit for the sheet music industry.
I did a show from the Twenties or early Thirties a few years back, and the endless reprises and recapitulations of the same tune (Tea For Two, I think) nigh on drove me batty, especially since I was playing bassoon at the time. Ditto with the jazzy movie music from the era. Thank God Gershwin came along when he did.
leader of Houston's Sounds Of The South Dance Orchestra
info@sotsdo.com
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Author: ghuba
Date: 2005-10-18 03:05
Author: Liquorice (---.adslplus.ch)
Date: 2005-10-17 21:40
Thank you all for your responses. You have been very helpful. I've ordered 'clarinet marmalade' and checked out some of the other links given.
ghuba, are there any specific tracks you recommend that are available on iTunes? I'm specifically interested in the playing styles of the 1920's, not just songs from then with a more recent interpretations. Thanks!
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iTunes has lots of tracks by Barney Bigard, Sidney Bechet, Johnny Dodds, George Lewis, and others from the era. A number of these recordings are with Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and others.
As said above by Clarnibass, a good place to start are the Hot 5s and 7s by Louis Armstrong and his different groups of the late 1920s, each featuring a clarinetist. A 4 CD set it is available and not too expensive (Louis Armstrong: Hot Fives and Sevens; JSP Records). Among the clarinetists in the various groups are Johnny Dodds, Boyd Atkins, Jimmy Strong, Don Redman, and Charlie Holmes. Collectively, the Armstrong recordings defined a strong direction for jazz in the future, featuring the strong ensemble improvisation of New Orleans jazz in which the clarinet is almost always improvising over the melody lines. A number of these tracks are on iTunes, but if you are interested in the overall set, the CD compilation is much less expensive. The overall set includes 90 tracks. [Note that early Armstrong group recordings are quite different from later Louis Armstrong popular recordings after he had assumed his cultural icon status and the clarinet-trumpet interplay on these tracks is exquisite.]
Bechet's style is unique and uniquely 20s and 30s. There are a number of compilations of his available. Many of the compilations combine early tracks recorded on clarinet with later ones on soprano sax.
In my opinion, the modern "descendents" of these pioneers include Dr. Michael White and, in a somewhat less direct way, Ben Redwine. Sometimes it helps place the early pioneers in context to listen to more recent recordings, with modern clarinet and recording equipment, by folks who have spent years understanding the intricacies of the techniques of the pioneers. Dr. White and Mr. Redwine both have recent recordings of classic songs done in a classic style.
There are also significant sections of Ken Burns' jazz DVD set that deal with the pioneers of the 20s, with most of the featured groups including clarinet players.
George
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