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Re: Lester Young on clarinet

Author: MarlboroughMan
Date: 2014-05-09 22:16

seabreeze,

I just ordered Sancton's book, on your recommendation. I'll look forward to reading it. I'll also check out the thesis you recommend. Having said this, I have my reservations about accepting an orthodoxy of jazz history based upon apprenticeship to George Lewis. He was undoubtedly a sincere musician and an honored figure among many (players as disparate as Pete Fountain and Dr. Michael White have called him an important influence), but even his own opinions over the decades shifted with various social pressures--particularly his public opinions of Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw. Also, while it can seem that today his word (or whichever version of his word) holds authoritative sway, this wasn't always the case. As recently as the 1980s, Barney Bigard dismissed Lewis as more or less a media creation, and lamented that he was given so much attention when a player like Willie Humphrey was virtually ignored. There are potentially extra-musical reasons for some of this as well...and if considered they ought to be carefully weighed and sifted.

On a deeper level, my points above are meant as a hint that "Chicago style" might not be merely a "permutation" of New Orleans style, but a substantial contribution, or musical source, in its own right. I personally think that Chicago and, to a lesser extent Cleveland, contributed to the development of jazz in ways that New Orleans couldn't (or at least didn't). Some of this even doubled back to New Orleans eventually (as your Alvin Batiste suggestion). (There are other very important cities as well--Kansas City, for example).

I've argued in other places that the influence of klezmer (through Goodman and Shaw) was an early and essential source for jazz clarinet as we know it. In a sense, I feel it took that stream of music to bring out the full potential of the clarinet as a leading solo instrument.

None of this diminishes the importance of New Orleans as the birthplace of jazz--it simply puts into perspective the importance of other musical sources in the rapid growth and development of the artform.

Eric

******************************
The Jazz Clarinet
http://thejazzclarinet.blogspot.com/

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Lester Young on clarinet new

Clarineteer

2014-05-07 10:47