 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: JimV
Date: 2006-11-06 05:44
Pete started playing Fridays and Saturday nights at the Hollywood Casino in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi in late October. This is his first regular gig since Katrina. To remember what he looks and sounds like playing a live concert check out the YouTube video below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61WTC4vTot0
Jim
Now there is one his signature songs on YouTube, Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans, link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mimWHUWuaG4
Jim
Post Edited (2006-11-06 22:41)
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Author: BobD
Date: 2006-11-06 18:15
I wonder what horn he's playing now.
Bob Draznik
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Author: seafaris
Date: 2006-11-06 18:39
Thanks for the info. We were suppose to see Pete play 2 weeks after Katrina hit. After his heart surgery we thought that we had missed out on seeing a legend play. Looks as if we will go down there this summer.
....Jim
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Author: JimV
Date: 2006-11-06 18:48
A couple of years ago he was trying to use the new LeBlanc Big Easy but was not satisfied with the scale, so he went back to one of the horns Vito gave him which was the Pete Fountain model. That model use to be the old Dynamic H. All of these clarinets are 15mm bore. He uses a 4* O'Brien mouthpiece with I think Marca 2 1/2 reeds. He lost several horns due to Katrina.
Jim
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Author: madvax
Date: 2006-11-06 19:01
Thanks for posting the YouTube link. I'm a big fan of Pete Fountain and I love his sound.
Glad to hear he's performing again.
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Author: TomD
Date: 2006-11-06 20:12
Does anyone know how old Pete is? When I started clarinet back in 1963, my Dad had a Pete Fountain album with all French melodies ( I Love Paris, C'est Ci Bon, etc.) and I learned to play most of the songs along with the record over the next several years. My Dad had a turn table with a 16 speed so I used to play the songs on 16 which took the pitch down exactly one octave so that I could learn the more difficult passages. I think he still sounds great.
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Author: hans
Date: 2006-11-06 20:16
JimV,
Thanks for the link. That was great!
Regards,
Hans
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Author: Avie
Date: 2006-11-06 20:35
Im happy to hear that pete Fountain has his health back. I missed him in New Orleans Bourbon St. in the 80's. I did see him on T.V. a few times. I injoyed watching Henry Questa ( sp?) and Pete Fountain play together on the Lawence Welk show some time ago. There are a few others on the BB that may have seen him. I forgot what other t.v. shows Pete Fountain was on. Starting back late as a senior, its inspiring for me to see people still playing the clarinet well into there senior years and Pete Fountain is a good example of that.
Thanks for the site. I can only hear a portion of the songs on YouTube on my computer. Does anyone know what Im doing wrong? I have a lot to learn about P.Cs. Thanks.
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Author: RussM
Date: 2006-11-06 20:54
Pete was born on July 3, 1930, which makes him 76 years old.
The TV show on which he appeared most regularly was Johnny Carson's Tonight Show - something like 88 appearances. After Jay Leno took over, Pete contacted the Tonight Show office like he usually did when he was going to visit LA. The person he talked to said, "Pete Fountain ?" What do you do ?
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2006-11-06 21:09
TKS for the updates and discussion of our Half-Fast band player ! I thot he was my age, but NO, I've got 11 more, but I'm sure not as good/prof. as P F is. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: 3dogmom
Date: 2006-11-07 02:02
Thanks for the best 8 minutes and 52 seconds of my day. He's great. I did attend a performance of his about 25 years ago, I can't say that he's changed a bit! Awesome.
Sue Tansey
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Author: John J. Moses
Date: 2006-11-08 21:24
A great Pete Fountain story from Merlin Petroff (with his permission), former Solo Clarinetist with "The President's Own Marine Band" in Washington, DC.
"The first time I met Pete it was during the eighties at the White House. The Marine Band Chamber Orchestra was playing for a state dinner and Pete was to be the evening's entertainment.
My boss had me doing the Mozart Concerto during the earlier part of the night, and while I'm doing the third movement I see this huge smile "hiding" behind one of the pillars in the cross hall. Once you've seen Pete's smile you absolutely can't miss him. So, after I'm done he comes up to me and says "Man, that reed you had was SINGIN'! We talked a little bit a he gave me an invite to his club at the Hilton in New Orleans.
So, ever since that night we have a routine we do. I try to play his setup and I can't get a sound out of it. He tries to play my setup and he can't get a sound out of it. Then, we laugh about how fickle the clarinet is for about half an hour.
All the while this goes on I can't forget that this guy is the closest to Irving Fazola and he's for real. And humble. I've never met anybody as humble as Pete. I understand that the night he played the White House after I'd played he nervous, saying, "Man, I'm just a saloon clarinet player; I'm nothin'." What I'd give to be that kind of nothin"!
With Pete it's like this: whenever I hear him, I leave the place feeling blessed to have had the experience."
JJM
Légère Artist
Clark W. Fobes Artist
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Author: BobD
Date: 2006-11-08 21:34
Thanks for passing the blessing on, John.
Bob Draznik
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Author: ned
Date: 2006-11-09 06:56
Yep not bad at all - and now that you have checked out Pete Fountain, have a look at George Lewis in Germany - playing a Selmer Radio Improved albert system.
Classic New Orleans blues played by an originator of the style.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbECu_Yekb4&search=Pete%20Fountain%20Basin%20Street%20Blues%20clarinet%20jazz%20new%20orleans
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Author: Wayne Thompson
Date: 2006-11-10 04:01
Pete Fountain I know and love. I play clarinet because he was on Lawrence Welk about when I was in 4th grade and was choosing my instrument.
And thanks for the clip of George Lewis. What absolutely gorgeous playing!
WT
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Author: Jhall
Date: 2006-11-10 13:14
I wonder how many of us play clarinet because we were influenced by Pete's effortless playing? I picked clarinet because of his appearances on the Lawrence Welk Show.
John
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Author: ned
Date: 2006-11-11 01:08
Not me John - I guess that I have really not paid any attention to PF until I looked at the YouTube videos. They are good, but I added the URL for the George Lewis video - take a look/listen to it.
My influences are mainly the early New Orleans players - it's where jazz originated - without any shadow of a doubt.
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Author: John J. Moses
Date: 2006-11-11 01:38
ned:
Your George Lewis video is fantastic. I've never seen him actually playing, I've only heard him on a record years ago. Thanks for the addition to our Clarinet legacy.
JJM
Légère Artist
Clark W. Fobes Artist
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Author: ned
Date: 2006-11-11 04:19
JJM,
I wish it WERE my video - I wish I could have seen him perform - I was only a kid when this was recorded (in 1959 apparently) according to a knowledgable colleague. I found the Lewis video after doing a YouTube search.
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