Who's your favourite clarinet player?

[lipi]

The alto sax thread was a good read, and I was sorely tempted to start a "who's your favourite C melody sax player?" thread, but this will probably generate more responses.

For me, miles ahead of the others, are Edmond Hall and Sidney Bechet. I am never bored listening to either of them.

Then there's a big gap.

In the chase group, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, and George Lewis. Not far behind, leading the peloton, are Darnell Howard, Pee Wee Russell, and Barney Bigard. Johnny Dodds and Jimmy Noone are somewhere near the front waiting for a good wheel, but don't seem to be able to make any attack stick.

Yes, I *have* been thinking about cycling a lot lately.

[jeffcrom]

Jeez, I love the clarinet. Most of my favorites are from New Orleans, not surprisingly. I don't know that I can put them in any particular order.

Sidney Bechet, Irving Fazola, Willie Humphrey, Harry Shields (not his brother Larry), Raymond Burke, Tim Laughlin, Evan Christopher, Ed Hall, Albert Nicholas, Alvin Batiste.

I could elaborate on all of these, but I'll just say that Willie Humphrey improvised with a brilliance which was usually not recognized during his lifetime - he was just thought of as the the old guy who played with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. If you want to judge for yourself, his best single recital might be the Eureka Brass Band's Jazz at Preservation Hall album - Willie plays one amazing solo after another.

and some non-New Orleanians:

Benny Carter (It was a tragedy when he stopped playing clarinet), Pee Wee Russell, Frank Teschemacher, Lester Young, John Carter. And yes, of course - Benny G. and Artie S. You almost don't even have to say that.

I'll go out on a limb and say that my favorite living jazz clarinetist is probably Evan Christopher. Most of the folks who have heard of him probably have dismissed him as a revivalist. He's more or less a traditionalist, but he's got a wider range than most folks realize, and he's an amazing improviser.

And as far as I can tell from recordings, the great Irving Fazola had the most beautiful clarinet sound I've ever heard.

And since I've been listening to lots of klezmer lately, I have to mention the great Dave Tarras and Naftule Brandwein. They ain't jazz, though.

Edited August 19, 2010 by jeffcrom

[BeBop]

I wish there was more Lester Young on clarinet.

[lipi]

I'll go out on a limb and say that my favorite living jazz clarinetist is probably Evan Christopher. Most of the folks who have heard of him probably have dismissed him as a revivalist. He's more or less a traditionalist, but he's got a wider range than most folks realize, and he's an amazing improviser.

Any particular album recommendations?

And as far as I can tell from recordings, the great Irving Fazola had the most beautiful clarinet sound I've ever heard.

Same request here. All I have are four tracks with Billie Holiday & Bunny Berigan.

Good call on Tesch and Nicholas, BTW. I should have included those somewhere on my list.

I forgot to include a living player I enjoy: Doreen Ketchens. She plays on the streets in New Orleans with her tuba-playing husband, and she has a bunch of CDs out. I found the CDs disappointing, but the live stuff is great. There are some good videos on youtube:

Professor Longhair's "Mardi Gras in New Orleans":

And a little about her:

[jeffcrom]

I'll go out on a limb and say that my favorite living jazz clarinetist is probably Evan Christopher. Most of the folks who have heard of him probably have dismissed him as a revivalist. He's more or less a traditionalist, but he's got a wider range than most folks realize, and he's an amazing improviser.

Any particular album recommendations?

Damn. Okay.... I was going to use something from one of these albums on my next Blindfold Test. But this is more important. Try this for a readily available album: Delta Bound on Arbors. My favorite Evan C. album is probably going to be hard to find if you don't live in France. It's called Introduction: Live at the Meridien. I can't even tell for sure what the label is - Classic Jazz, maybe, or Jazz Traditions Project. But it's very cool - Evan plays standards, Ellington, and Ornette with a French guitar/bass/drums rhythm section.

And as far as I can tell from recordings, the great Irving Fazola had the most beautiful clarinet sound I've ever heard.

Same request here. All I have are four tracks with Billie Holiday & Bunny Berigan.

Mostly Faz on Jazz Band is very good. Most of it is two mid-40s sessions from when he moved back to New Orleans. Otherwise look for the stuff he did with Bob Crosby.

I forgot to include a living player I enjoy: Doreen Ketchens. She plays on the streets in New Orleans with her tuba-playing husband, and she has a bunch of CDs out. I found the CDs disappointing, but the live stuff is great. There are some good videos on youtube:

Professor Longhair's "Mardi Gras in New Orleans":

And a little about her:

Yeah, Doreen's great. Not really in the first rank of New Orleans clarinetists, but not that far off, either.

And I forgot to mention Ben Schenck, a New Orleans guy who just gets better and better. His band is the Panorama Jazz Band - they've got three albums, of which Come Out Swingin' is the best. They play traditional jazz, klezmer, calypso - all sorts of stuff.

[Chuck Nessa]

Maurice McIntyre

Anthony Braxton

Russell Procope

Roscoe Mitchell

Johnny Dodds

Sidney Bechet

Pee Wee Russell

Lester Young

The Noone influenced players like Goodman and Defranco (for me) are accomplished, but not great. I am biased towards Albert system players - I love the sound. I'm most interested in "original" approaches.

[jazztrain]

Christopher's latest effort on Arbors (The Remembering Song) is particularly tasty, with several attractive originals.

Gee, where to start? I could name dozens and dozens. I've somewhat obsessively collected jazz clarinet recordings for close to 40 years now, and there's such a wide range of sounds that can be made on the instrument. I'd start with Pee Wee. Other favorites, for various reasons, include Edmond Hall, Johnny Dodds, Lester Young, Jimmy Giuffre, Kenny Davern, Buddy DeFranco, and Tony Scott.

Jeff is right about Willie Humphrey, someone I discovered recently from the Atlantic recordings on the Mosaic box. That's a good observation about Benny Carter, also. He had a slightly loose embouchure (as is the case for many doublers) but played the instrument really well. Same for Phil Woods.

I love those players who achieved a personal and recognizable sound. The elegant filigree work of Albert Nicholas and the edge he gets when he goes up high. Cecil Scott and his buzz tone on recordings with Clarence Williams.

For pretty sounds, Fazola, Shaw, and Bigard are certainly high on the list.

Can't leave out Benny Goodman, either. And so many others...

I'll go out on a limb and say that my favorite living jazz clarinetist is probably Evan Christopher. Most of the folks who have heard of him probably have dismissed him as a revivalist. He's more or less a traditionalist, but he's got a wider range than most folks realize, and he's an amazing improviser.

Any particular album recommendations?

Damn. Okay.... I was going to use something from one of these albums on my next Blindfold Test. But this is more important. Try this for a readily available album: Delta Bound on Arbors. My favorite Evan C. album is probably going to be hard to find if you don't live in France. It's called Introduction: Live at the Meridien. I can't even tell for sure what the label is - Classic Jazz, maybe, or Jazz Traditions Project. But it's very cool - Evan plays standards, Ellington, and Ornette with a French guitar/bass/drums rhythm section.

And as far as I can tell from recordings, the great Irving Fazola had the most beautiful clarinet sound I've ever heard.

Same request here. All I have are four tracks with Billie Holiday & Bunny Berigan.

Mostly Faz on Jazz Band is very good. Most of it is two mid-40s sessions from when he moved back to New Orleans. Otherwise look for the stuff he did with Bob Crosby.

I forgot to include a living player I enjoy: Doreen Ketchens. She plays on the streets in New Orleans with her tuba-playing husband, and she has a bunch of CDs out. I found the CDs disappointing, but the live stuff is great. There are some good videos on youtube:

Professor Longhair's "Mardi Gras in New Orleans":

And a little about her:

Yeah, Doreen's great. Not really in the first rank of New Orleans clarinetists, but not that far off, either.

And I forgot to mention Ben Schenck, a New Orleans guy who just gets better and better. His band is the Panorama Jazz Band - they've got three albums, of which Come Out Swingin' is the best. They play traditional jazz, klezmer, calypso - all sorts of stuff.

[jeffcrom]

Christopher's latest effort on Arbors (The Remembering Song) is particularly tasty, with several attractive originals.

Cool - I didn't know he had a new one out. Thanks for the tip!

[jazztrain]

His duo recording with pianist Tom McDermott is also quite nice.

[jlhoots]

In no order:

Jimmy Giuffre

Pee Wee Russell

Anat Cohen

Don Byron

[jeffcrom]

I knew I would forget to mention one of my heroes. How could I have overlooked Jimmy Giuffre?

[clifford_thornton]

I'd be curious to know what others think of George Lewis. I have a few of his recordings that I like a lot, though I don't think I know enough about earlier forms of jazz (or heard enough of his work) to really put him in any sort of "favorites list."

[gmonahan]

I'd be curious to know what others think of George Lewis. I have a few of his recordings that I like a lot, though I don't think I know enough about earlier forms of jazz (or heard enough of his work) to really put him in any sort of "favorites list."

I just ordered his Mosaic cds from an Amazon seller, so I'm looking forward to hearing more of him.

For me, Bechet was the definitive traditional clarinetist ("Blue Horizon" is, for me, THE great clarinet performance), Goodman the greatest Swing clarinetist, and DeFranco the greatest bop one. Of more recent clarinetists, I like Eddie Daniels (especially the Goodman tribute album he did with Gary Burton). Anat Cohen is interesting. I'm listening to her. And yeah, Prez played really cool clarinet...when he played it.

gregmo

[Spontooneous]

Johnny Dodds, John Carter. Surprised nobody's mentioned Buddy Collette. And no love for Jimmy Hamilton, people?

[brownie]

Clarinet playing seems to be a lost art in current jazz and I have no favorite among the recent practitioners of the art.

But I do have a lot of love for Sidney Bechet, Johnny Dodds, PeeWee Russell, Edmund Hall and Lester Young.

Other favorite include Tony Scott, Buddy de Franco, Jimmy Giuffre not to mention Barney Bigard, Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw.

And I should not forget Albert Burbank who speaks to me better than George Lewis.

[ep1str0phy]

Johnny Dodds, John Carter. Surprised nobody's mentioned Buddy Collette. And no love for Jimmy Hamilton, people?

Great call on Collette. For my part, I'll say John Carter, George Lewis, Bechet, Giuffre, Pee Wee Russell, Perry Robertson, and Don Byron among the younger set. I'd mention strong doublers like Dolphy and any number of AACM guys, but clarinet for these folks is often part and parcel with a larger reed conception in a way that it isn't with the aforementioned.

[BillF]

Lester, DeFranco, Giuffre, Pee Wee

[dankarlsberg]

I Heard Greg Tardy play clarinet with Andrew Hill at the showcase in Chicago in 2004, and he blew me away. You can hear him play clarinet on Andrew's last album, "Timelines". My other favorites have been listed many times: Sydney Bechet, Pee Wee Russell, and Jimmy Giuffre.

by the way, this is my very first post and I am excited about that. I have been reading this board for years, and finally decided to join in.

[ep1str0phy]

I Heard Greg Tardy play clarinet with Andrew Hill at the showcase in Chicago in 2004, and he blew me away. You can hear him play clarinet on Andrew's last album, "Timelines". My other favorites have been listed many times: Sydney Bechet, Pee Wee Russell, and Jimmy Giuffre.

by the way, this is my very first post and I am excited about that. I have been reading this board for years, and finally decided to join in.

Welcome--and, also, good call on Tardy. I think that last Hill album is a gem.

[jazztrain]

I think I've recommended elsewhere the George Lewis "Plays Hymns" album on Milneberg. Really distinctive.

The Louis Cottrell sessions that Christien produced for Riverside are gems as well.

I'd be curious to know what others think of George Lewis. I have a few of his recordings that I like a lot, though I don't think I know enough about earlier forms of jazz (or heard enough of his work) to really put him in any sort of "favorites list."

[kh1958]

Sidney Bechet, Barney Bigard, Pee Wee Russell, Jimmy Giuffre, Jimmy Hamilton.

[mjazzg]

Louis Sclavis, Michel Portal and Gianluigi Trovesi would all be fairly high on my list which is undoubtedly topped by Jimmy Giuffre. A recent discovery for me has been James falzone (check out his allos Documents label)

edit: to add Gabrielle Mirabassi to my list of Europeans worthy of note

Edited August 19, 2010 by mjazzg

[jeffcrom]

I'd be curious to know what others think of George Lewis. I have a few of his recordings that I like a lot, though I don't think I know enough about earlier forms of jazz (or heard enough of his work) to really put him in any sort of "favorites list."

George Lewis was what he was - a simple musician whose style never changed. His early recordings have a freshness and directness that I like a lot. He probably recorded too much over the years - there's a sameness about many of the later recordings. But there are some good ones, too, like the Atlantic album. George Lewis Plays Hymns, mentioned by jazztrain, works so well because it's so straightforward and sincere.

I agree with Greg M. that Bechet's "Blue Horizon" is a masterpiece. I can't follow him into Eddie Daniels appreciation, though. Daniels has amazing command of the clarinet, but his music leaves me cold.

[AllenLowe]

I know I mention him too frequently, but Buddy Rich said that his favorite clarinetist after Artie Shaw was none other than Dave Schildkraut. I used to go see Dave play affairs like weddings at the Oriental, a catering house in, I think, Bensonhurst (Brooklyn). Davey used to take out the clarinet and amaze the band with glisses and all kinds of wonderfully musical technical feats.

Also - Boston, 1975 or '76. I was at Pauls Mall, a jazz club, talking with Art Pepper, when a kid comes over and says, "hey Art, do you still play the clarinet?" Pepper looks at me, smiles, takes the kid's clarinet and plays a bunch of runs - and then takes it on stage and plays an incredible blues on the instrument, very boppish but with a lot of his personal feel. Wow.

Edited August 19, 2010 by AllenLowe

[jazztrain]

I didn't mention Bechet, but there's a special place in my heart for "Blue Horizon." I think of him (as he himself did) primarily as a unique voice on soprano saxophone, but his clarinet playing was also memorable. There's an October 1941 rendition of "Mood Indigo" (the take that was on one of the two Victor Vintage LPs) that still gives me chills. "Egyptian Fantasy" is another one. There are several others on which he plays both instruments to great effect such as "Save It Pretty Mama," "Ain't Misbehavin'," and "Nobody Knows the Way I Feel Dis' Mornin'."

Daniels achieves almost a flutelike sound on the instrument. I remember most liking "First Prize" on Prestige and, much later, "Breakthrough."

Most of the Benny Goodman Quartet, Quintet, Sextet, etc. evocations by later players (and there are scores of them) end up being ultimately unsatisfying. Most of them leave me wanting rather to go back to listen to the original.

I'd be curious to know what others think of George Lewis. I have a few of his recordings that I like a lot, though I don't think I know enough about earlier forms of jazz (or heard enough of his work) to really put him in any sort of "favorites list."

George Lewis was what he was - a simple musician whose style never changed. His early recordings have a freshness and directness that I like a lot. He probably recorded too much over the years - there's a sameness about many of the later recordings. But there are some good ones, too, like the Atlantic album. George Lewis Plays Hymns, mentioned by jazztrain, works so well because it's so straightforward and sincere.

I agree with Greg M. that Bechet's "Blue Horizon" is a masterpiece. I can't follow him into Eddie Daniels appreciation, though. Daniels has amazing command of the clarinet, but his music leaves me cold.