 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Jason M.
Date: 2001-03-08 02:47
For our spring concert, my highschool's concert band will be playing a piece called "At A Dixieland Jazz Funeral" a combination of "Just a Closer Walk From Thee Oh Lord" and "Oh When The Saints Go Marching In." I know I know, pile on the cheese... but there are a few clarinet solos in there, and I would like it to sound nice; however, I am having trouble really getting a feel for the Dixieland feel, specifically the vibrato aspect. Can anyone point me to some recordings, preferably less obscure, that really showcase a clarinet sound that people would immediately recognize as "Dixieland?"
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2001-03-08 03:26
Also CDs of Al Hirt, where Pete Fountain appears very often.
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Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2001-03-08 04:54
Anything Sidney Bechet. Although most people think of him as a soprano sax player he was also a fine clarinettist and used an albert system. His vibrato is so wide you could drive a truck through it but it works.
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Author: Lindy
Date: 2001-03-08 10:08
The solo on dixie jazz funeral in the fast bit, isn't really dixie, it needs to be alot higher to be effective. If you know someone who's a reasonable jazz player get them to write you a better solo cos the written one is pretty middle of the road.
Other than that, find a soft reed and blow like crazy or you'll never be heard over the brass solos.
It can be a fun piece though, we had the dixie solo players walk on (kind of funeral march style) at the start and then stand at the front for when the saints.
Which involves you memorising the piece but hey, if I can do it!
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Author: beecee
Date: 2001-03-08 14:17
Try Andy Sherwood CD - you will not be disappointed.
Check it out at
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/asherwood/andy.htm
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Author: Jeff Forman
Date: 2001-03-08 14:31
I highly second the Andy Sherwood recommendation. To hear Just a Closer Walk and The Saints, go to :
http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/76/andy_sherwood.html
At Andy's site, you will only be able to hear the Saints, but not Just a Closer Walk. And if you like those cuts, get the CD - orderable only from Andy's site. The whole cd is magnificent and IMHO, none of the guys in the combo lack for anything.
Jeff
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2001-03-08 15:22
Jason - I played this a couple of years ago in a church orch !! which had Dixie instrumentation, lots of fun! I tried to use a bit of vibrato and a number of lip-slurs into the higher notes [attack lower and come up into pitch] to the amusement of the orch and audience. I suspect at least some of the recordings will "wail" like that. As I recall, the double-time Saints gets a bit technical, go for it !! Don
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Author: beejay
Date: 2001-03-08 17:19
See if you can find a copy of "Jazz at Vespers" by George Lewis. It is very authentic and has some absolutely beautiful clarinet playing.
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Author: beejay
Date: 2001-03-08 17:25
See if you can find a copy of "Jazz at Vespers" by George Lewis. It is very authentic and has some absolutely beautiful clarinet playing.
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Author: beecee
Date: 2001-03-09 14:01
Hey Jeff, sounds like we should start an Andy fan club!!!
By far, I have not heard a better clainet player - I put all my B. Goodman CDs away, along with Pete F. There is no comparison - IMHO.
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Author: beejay
Date: 2001-03-09 14:48
I should have said in mentioning George Lewis that the CD I recommended contains both "Just a Closer Walk" and "When the Saints," along with a bunch of other gospel and spiritual pieces. It was recorded in a church in Ohio in the 1950s when Lewis and his band were invited to play at the Ohio Union. I read once that the priest at that church later won the jackpot in the $64,000 Question, answering questions about jazz. Perhaps older timers than I am can set the historical record straight.
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Author: Bob Sparkman
Date: 2001-03-10 01:10
Yeah, beejay, I've forgotten the minister's name, but it was on the (later scandal ridden) "$64,000 Question" TV show when he identified the Louis Armstrong recording of "Ory's Creole Trombone", with the great N.O. clarinet player Jonny Dodds. One of my great memories was hearing George Lewis with the Bunk Johnson band at the Stuyvesant Casino in NYC (several times) in 1944. The power and sinew of that music (unamplified, of course) was extraordinary, impossible to capture on records, and won over many "hip" sophisticates who generally put traditional jazz down hard. The emotional impact was unforgetable. Lewis really SANG through his clarinet. Just beautiful!!!
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