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Re: Stan Hasselgard-jazz clarinetist

Author: seabreeze
Date: 2020-08-21 04:07

Hasselgard grew up playing something between traditional jazz and Goodman style swing, but adopted a be-bop style on clarinet just around the time that Goodman was taking (what turned out to be a brief) interest in that style. I've always thought that Hasselgard sounded best when he was performing on stage as a featured sideman with Goodman. The Swede's clarinet became most alive and inventive under the watchful eye of taskmaster Benny, who just might have been wondering if he could crib a bit of the bop style from the younger man, but soon dropped the idea. It's impossible to say what direction Hasselgard might have pursued if he had not died so untimely three years after WWII. Whether headed towards be-bop or cool or post bop clarinet, he would have had to cut his own path. Goodman retreated more into classical, pop, and slightly updated swing, deciding that the later reaches of jazz were not for him. Hasselgard might have fared well further developing something like Artie Shaw's late style (harmonically more daring than Goodman's) but I don't know if he was ever inclined in that direction. Given Shaw's ego, it's unlikely he ever would have permitted Hasselgard (or any other clarinetist) to share a featured spot with him the way Goodman did with Hasselgard.

Post Edited (2020-08-21 20:04)

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