Author: Ralph Katz
Date: 2004-10-31 11:30
I am not an expert, but it can really fit into places you might not think. I am currently in three groups:
1) Jewish weddings: clarinet, mando, voice, piano, bass, guitar. If the mando can't make it, we play with 5 people or sometimes substitute fiddle (great for me to have another sustaining rhythm instrument.) We play for dancing - traditional tunes, klezmer, and some standards.
2) Ethnic band - four players: accordion, clarinet/dumbek/frula, mando/guitar/tambura/dumbek/bass, bass/fiddle. Balkan, Israeli, Greek, and many other ethnic tunes. We play some concerts, but mostly for international folk dancing events.
3) Contra dancing: fiddle, clarinet, trombone, mandolin, banjo, guitar, accordion, hammer-dulcimer/flute/recorder, piano, bass. The trombonist is the leader, and will stick klezmer tunes in the middle of a dance - this works so long as the tunes are "square" (32 bars).
There are a lot of cross-over bands popping up, and their use of the clarinet can be innovative. Clarinet can be used for dramatic contrast, but also the instrument can fit into some surprising places in the hands of the right player.
A fascinating album I got recently after hearing a cut on CBC2 was Rabih Abou-Khalil's "Morton's Foot", a mix of middle-eastern and jazz and many other influences that defies description. Amazing clarinet solos in a couple of cuts. Tunes have wierd names like "Waltz for Dubya", or puns in French. Lots of what they do defies description (liner notes are an artistic statement - no help here either). Wonderful CD.
CBC2 in the last year has also played cuts from Margot Leverett's "Klezmer Mountain Boys" CD, which mixes bluegrass and klezmer.
What other innovative CD's including clarinet have people heard recently?
Regards
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The Ethnic Clarinet
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