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Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ??

Author: allencole
Date: 2009-01-05 00:07

I'll readily confess to sour grapes, gig envy and whatever else. I'll even stipulate to the personal attack. Sure his persona's kinda creepy. Just watch him and Soon-Yi in "Wild Man Blues."

But I believe that there is something that sets Woody apart from the usually attack threads on Kenny G. and Richard Stoltzman that I myself protest. That is the deadly combination of Woody's marginal skill level, and the public enthusiasm that he commands. In other words--and I think I probably speak for most of the anti-Woody faction--we get bombarded on a fairly regular basis by people of...er...'limited experience' who want to tells all about Woody and how much they love his playing.

Admittedlly, this isn't all Woody's fault. But I personally tend to link this to the fact that the public sees the instrument and its players as uber-nerds who are limited to playing various types of cartoon music which will never have the combined artistic value of one chorus of "Smoke on the Water."

It's like having someone look at your single daughter and offer to fix her up with some 'lonely' kid who has no job and no hygene. They see it as a nice thing for both parties. As a parent you would probably see it as someone having a horrible perception of your daughter and her prospects.

Well the clarinet is our plain-but-high-quality daughter who isn't dumb, fat, ugly or unkempt. She just doesn't present herself in a flashy way or offer easy pickin's to every guy she meets.

As for Woody himself, I'm glad that he can afford to gig. I do think that he pursues publicity for it more than it pursues him, and that given some of his unusual ways with stepchildren (maybe I'm giving Mia too much credit here) I would rather not see him held up as an example either for accomplishment as a musician or for his lifestyle. (But chances are, of course, that he's the only clarinet player that the average person can name)

So, to wax futher psychological and futher off-topic, maybe we're not really mad at Woody. Maybe we're mad at ourselves for not making our instrument more accessible, or for missing opportunities to bring more showmanship into its performance. And it's not that Woody should be denied the chance to perform due to pedestrian skills. Certainly, I've been featured in any number of situations where a better player could've been found.

But there's a great frustration among many of us who strive in particular to keep the instrument--and our own playing--relevant as time goes on. GBK brought up a subject that irks me, and he was expressing feelings similar to mine. It just felt like a good opportunity to get some release...

Allen Cole

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Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

GBK

2008-12-29 02:39

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

Rob Vitale

2008-12-29 02:48

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

BobD

2008-12-29 13:43

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

JJAlbrecht

2008-12-29 19:07

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

William

2008-12-29 15:09

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

Gregory Smith

2008-12-29 17:12

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

Ryder

2008-12-29 19:13

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

JJAlbrecht

2008-12-29 19:18

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

chris moffatt

2008-12-30 02:54

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

Neil

2008-12-30 04:43

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

old john

2008-12-30 10:23

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

Hank Lehrer

2008-12-30 11:26

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

old john

2008-12-30 13:28

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

BobD

2008-12-30 12:16

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

clarnibass

2008-12-30 12:30

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

David Spiegelthal

2008-12-30 13:48

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

GBK

2008-12-30 14:29

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

BobD

2008-12-30 14:34

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

BobD

2008-12-30 14:46

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

old john

2008-12-30 15:08

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

Hank Lehrer

2008-12-30 16:19

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

old john

2008-12-30 16:36

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

JJAlbrecht

2008-12-30 17:04

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

JJAlbrecht

2008-12-30 21:17

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

Arnoldstang

2008-12-30 21:59

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

William

2008-12-30 16:30

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

Hank Lehrer

2008-12-30 17:17

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

David Spiegelthal

2008-12-30 18:15

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

LarryBocaner

2008-12-30 18:37

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

Tony Pay

2008-12-30 19:55

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

BobD

2008-12-30 21:00

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

DougR

2008-12-30 21:31

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

Bubalooy

2008-12-30 22:10

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

JJAlbrecht

2008-12-30 22:17

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

Hank Lehrer

2008-12-31 00:01

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

GBK

2008-12-31 00:15

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

Ryder

2008-12-31 00:18

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

DavidBlumberg

2008-12-31 01:57

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

Johnny Galaga

2008-12-31 03:52

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

JJAlbrecht

2008-12-31 12:35

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

DougR

2008-12-31 12:45

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

skygardener

2008-12-31 20:11

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

mrn

2008-12-31 20:52

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

Steve Epstein

2008-12-31 21:20

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

Ryder

2008-12-31 21:35

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

clarnibass

2009-01-01 05:04

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

DougR

2009-01-01 14:38

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

clarnibass

2009-01-01 16:05

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

Mark P. Jasuta

2009-01-02 01:53

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

ned

2009-01-02 04:45

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

allencole

2009-01-02 09:10

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

GBK

2009-01-02 12:20

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

Hank Lehrer

2009-01-02 12:42

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

David Spiegelthal

2009-01-02 12:59

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

allencole

2009-01-02 18:31

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

ned

2009-01-03 08:29

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

JJAlbrecht

2009-01-03 14:29

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

skygardener

2009-01-03 15:48

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

ned

2009-01-03 23:27

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

ned

2009-01-04 04:18

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

smoreno

2009-01-04 07:59

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

David Spiegelthal

2009-01-04 13:32

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

BobD

2009-01-04 15:00

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

Hank Lehrer

2009-01-04 15:46

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

Old Geezer

2009-01-04 16:09

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

Hank Lehrer

2009-01-04 18:22

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

Iceland clarinet

2009-01-04 18:31

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

brycon

2009-01-04 20:01

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

Chalumeau Joe

2009-01-04 21:48

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

GBK

2009-01-04 22:01

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

ned

2009-01-04 22:07

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

Chalumeau Joe

2009-01-04 22:09

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

skygardener

2009-01-04 23:14

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

brycon

2009-01-04 23:21

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

brycon

2009-01-04 23:37

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

allencole

2009-01-05 00:07

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

george

2009-01-05 20:06

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

bbarner

2009-01-06 15:08

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

David Spiegelthal

2009-01-06 16:56

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

ned

2009-01-07 00:43

Re: Woody Allen - standing ovation on clarinet ?? new

PeterB1517

2017-12-10 14:11

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