 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: beejay
Date: 2012-10-07 12:57
I just got kicked out of the orchestra where I have played for the past 12 years. Not my fault, but the new director has decided he wants professionals in all the wind chairs, along with a mixture of amateur and professional strings -- and yes, he's brought in a bunch of his cronies. Never mind. Change is good. I refuse to be silenced, and an opportunity has come up to to join a modern jazz ensemble. I've never played jazz before, apart from some Dixie decades ago, but I'm frantically skimming through the big Levine book before my first rehearsal next week. I'm thoroughly confused by chord grills and some of the weird scales I read about. I wonder if any of you have done the classical to jazz route, and if so, is there any advice you can pass on. Many thanks.
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Author: pplateau
Date: 2012-10-07 16:54
Well, I'm a "senior citizen" and I haven't found that the scale/chord approach is helping me all that much; BUT, if you have a pretty good ear, just LISTEN to others and try to duplicate and DO play with a group, they will help you along the way. That's my experience for what it's worth. Hope this helps. Good luck!
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Author: MarlboroughMan
Date: 2012-10-07 19:43
Listen as much as possible to other jazz players, and transcribe as much as you can--pay attention to the tone quality they get, and how they go about singing through the horn.
By "modern jazz" I assume you mean 1950s-60s style (bop, cool jazz, modal jazz). If this is the case, I'd recommend spending a lot of time with the following:
Artie Shaw's "Last Recordings": the Gramercy 5 sessions from 1954. These are available on a five-disc box of the Complete Gramercy 5 session put out by Jasmine records. If you can get the original CD sets used, I'd recommend that too--though the Jasmine box has all of the earlier recordings from the '40s as well.
Bill Smith's recordings, especially "Folk Jazz" and "Near Myth" with Dave Brubeck. Smith is possibly the most neglected of the great jazz clarinetists--in the fifties and sixties he forged a great style, and the two albums listed are masterful.
Stan Hasselgard: "California Sessions" and, if you can get a copy on vinyl, his live recordings with Benny Goodman. Hasselgard was making breakthroughs into bop very early on, and his tone was beautiful while doing so.
Several Eddie Daniels albums, while recorded much later, are very helpful with that style, including "To Bird with Love" and "This is Now".
The most important thing, when first starting out, is to really immerse yourself in the style, and learn to approach the horn in a way that is relaxed, less "formal" (I don't mean that in a theoretical sense, but in a stylistic sense), more immediately vocal. Fool around with sounds, angles, approaches--even instruments. Find who you like, and be a mockingbird for a while. Most of all, enjoy.
After this, there are many approaches to jazz theory--but the first, to my mind, is to hear what's out there, and to start transcribing.
Good luck!
Eric
******************************
The Jazz Clarinet
http://thejazzclarinet.blogspot.com/
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Author: beejay
Date: 2012-10-08 21:13
Thanks guys for the encouragement. Bill Smith was a revelation. I've been using Buddy De Franco and Tony Scott as a model for cool jazz but I also like the more driving style of Edmond Hall and Sandy Brown. I've been out of the jazz scene for so long that any other suggestions will be gratefully received.
Post Edited (2012-10-08 21:36)
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Author: MarlboroughMan
Date: 2012-10-08 23:46
"Bill Smith was a revelation."
Yeah....I'm really glad you checked him out. Bill Smith might be the best kept secret in modern jazz. I like Edmond Hall too...if you like his drive and have access to an LP player, try to get your hands on a few old Pete Fountain records too-- "Pete Fountain's French Quarter" and "Live at the Bateau Lounge" are very interesting--sort of a wedding of NOLA jazz clarinet to cool jazz rhythm section. Unfortunately, I don't think they've ever been reissued on CD, so it's vinyl all the way--but well worth it for anyone interested in clarinet jazz.
Eric
******************************
The Jazz Clarinet
http://thejazzclarinet.blogspot.com/
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Author: brycon
Date: 2012-10-09 00:29
Be sure to check out the search function of this site. The topic of players with a classical background approaching jazz music has been covered rather extensively.
I would also recommend that if you and your ensemble-mates are performing in the bebop and postbop idioms, you focus your listening on non-clarinetists. Aside from a small handful of players, there have not been too many modern jazz clarinetists. Moreover, in my opinion, the work of these players is not of the same quality as the best saxophonists.
We only have so much time to listen and practice. I myself chose to focus on Bird, Coltrane, the Sonnys, Joe Henderson, et cetera rather than postbop clarinetists.
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Author: Tony M
Date: 2012-10-09 11:28
Don't forget, if you are listening around, to listen to Pee Wee Russell.
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Author: beejay
Date: 2012-10-09 14:17
I did indeed use the search function, and got a lot of useful information. But what I've picked up from this posting has been invaluable too.
Since I shall still be playing chamber music with a trio, I don't want to give up everything I've learned about classical voicing and style. I found an old Otto Link mouthpiece that bends the notes quite nicely, but essentially it sounds more or less the same as the Van Doren CL5 that I've been using for quite a while, except for being considerably louder. Also, I play a standard Buffet Crampon RC, Bflat and A.
On this basis, I've been looking for jazz clarinetists with a fairly "classical" sound who I could emulate. This kind of rules out Pee Wee Russell -- I'm not sure I could ever play that rough!
But I have ordered a bunch of records of a few clarinetists I feel can teach me a lot. These are Buddy de Franco, Bill Smith (thanks MarlboroughMan), Jimmy Hamilton and, last but not least, Hubert Rostaing of Hot Club de France fame. I can think of several others, but I have to make a start somewhere.
This is like moving to a new continent, plus I'm no spring chicken any more. I'm wondering if my basset horn can find a place in this new world. I found a Russian basset hornist on Youtube who plays some pretty mean jazz.
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Author: beejay
Date: 2012-10-09 20:17
I found what seems like sage advice ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IkDD5ze-mY&feature=related
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Author: TJBernie
Date: 2012-10-10 00:08
Listen to Pee Wee Russell and Kenny Daverne and Eddie Hall and Johnny Mince and Chuck Hedges ( and Richard Stoltzman for some idea of just how much sound you can get out of a clarinet which something jazz clarinetist know diddly about)and learn to do what they do and you will play the ass of any of the other clarinet players that everyone else has mentioned...... Benny Goodman Artie Shaw and Buddy DeFranco are just another word for ALSO.
Mississauga, ON
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Author: MarlboroughMan
Date: 2012-10-10 13:58
...and I thought I was the only one who listened to Johnny Mince....
Listen, Mince was a good solid jazz clarinetist (good saxman too), and deserving of more recognition than he gets. I'm a BIG fan of his work with Joe Haymes way back in the early '30s (before Haymes sold the outfit to Tommy Dorsey), and even found a way to get my hands on the one LP he ever recorded as a leader ("Summer of '79" on the Jazzology label). I've also heard some of his work with Billy Butterfield in the '80s. The man could flat out play. But it's unfair to put him up against Shaw or Goodman, and silly to denigrate them, thinking it helps the guys you like. Paul Desmond doesn't get better by trashing Bird, the Crussell Concerti are not a good stick to beat Mozart and Weber with, and Pee Wee Russel's playing doesn't gain respect by insulting other great players.
Eric
******************************
The Jazz Clarinet
http://thejazzclarinet.blogspot.com/
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Author: DrewSorensenMusic
Date: 2012-10-10 15:11
What everyone above has said about listening is very important. Also knowing which artist you would like to emulate would help your instructor direct your study appropriately. I do believe you are short on time to learn this stuff, so I figure I may add a few pointers.
In reference to the Eddie Daniels video, there are some amazing things in there, and some terrible things. I guess I'll give the bad first, I'm a huge non-fan of grace notes in jazz. I think they sound hokey and direct the ear strait to the 1920s. This is a personal choice, some will differ. The good part of the Daniels video is his flawless use of voice leading, especially chromatically. You can hear the bass player in your ear moving with everything Mr. Daniels is playing, but to get to this level takes lots of practice.
At your first attempts at improvising, best to keep it as simple as possible. Find the tonal centers in the music (this is assuming that the music is modern, but if it's too modern it may be very difficult). For example, if you have an Am7 - D7 - GMaj7 progression, that whole progression is in G Major. For now, know that if you play a simple melody using the G Major scale, it will sound pleaseing. If you use the G Major pentatonic, it will also fit very well with this chord progression.
In the minor key, if you have a progression Am7b5 - D7b9 - Gm(maj7), then this progression is in Gminor. To make it easy, you can use the G Harmonic Minor scale. You may also use the Bb Major Pentatonic (also known as the G Minor Pentatonic) over the whole progression with good results.
Hopefully that would get you started. Good Luck.
Drew S.
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Author: beejay
Date: 2012-10-11 21:47
Had first workshop today, and it went well, thanks in part to you guys. They were playing in modes, which came as a bit of a shock. But otherwise, I was able to fit in OK.
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2012-10-14 17:08
Todd Deljudice just left Eastern Washington University, where he was prof of clarinet and sax.
He is a very accomplished jazz player. One of his teaching tools is the Jamyey Aebersold recordings. They are CDs that play chord progressions for you to adlib along with.
Here's a start
<http://www.jazzbooks.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=JAJAZZ&Category_Code=AEBPLA>
Todd, knowing something of my playing ability, told me that I could get passably competent in about 3-months of diligent practice --probably at 2-hours a day.
Bob Phillips
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