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Has Bennie Maupin talked much specifically about his studio work with/for Miles Davis (1969-72, 11 sessions)? - all of it exclusively on Bass Clarinet


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Bennie Maupin played on a total of 11 fairly long sessions for Miles in 1969, '70, and '72 -- all exclusively on Bass Clarinet.  Has he ever commented much about working on these sessions? - and his role more as 'color' than as soloist (practically all 'color', iirc, right? - though some of it gets a lot busier than what one might call 'color' in a more Gil Evans type context, by way of contrast).

Been a while since I've listened to much of this, but I also seem to remember Maupin playing down on the lower half of the instrument if not exclusively, then a heck of a lot more than above the register break (not exactly an 'octave' key, but it's that key that gets you into the upper register, which has a much different timbre).  But no, Miles had Benny down on the bottom almost all the time, iirc.

Very interesting creative choice, and one I rather love -- since I think the bottom half of the Bass Clarinet is one of the more interesting colors there is (in orchestral music especially).

Can we talk about Benny Maupin's contributions to Miles' music, and I'd especially love to see if there are any Maupin interviews where he talks about that, or if anyone else has talked about it much either for that matter.

Here are those sessions he played on, and I think these hyperlinks will all work.  This is from the search results on "Maupin", from Peter Losin's wonderful site.

http://www.plosin.com/milesahead/Query.aspx

Date Location Media Ensemble
August 19, 1969 Columbia Studio B, New York Commercial for Columbia Miles Davis Studio Group
August 20, 1969 Columbia Studio B, New York Commercial for Columbia Miles Davis Studio Group
August 21, 1969 Columbia Studio B, New York Commercial for Columbia Miles Davis Studio Group
November 19, 1969 Columbia Studio E, New York Commercial for Columbia Miles Davis Studio Group
November 28, 1969 Columbia Studio E, New York Commercial for Columbia Miles Davis Studio Group
January 27, 1970 Columbia Studio B, New York Commercial for Columbia Miles Davis Studio Group
January 28, 1970 Columbia Studio B, New York Commercial for Columbia Miles Davis Studio Group
February 18, 1970 Columbia Studio, New York Commercial for Columbia Miles Davis Studio Group
March 17, 1970 Columbia Studio, New York Commercial for Columbia Miles Davis Studio Group
June 6, 1972 Columbia Studio E, New York Commercial for Columbia Miles Davis Studio Group
June 12, 1972 Columbia Studio E, New York Commercial for Columbia Miles Davis Studio Group
Edited by Rooster_Ties
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A great interview with him, specifically about Miles.  Just reading it now for the first time...

http://www.thelastmiles.com/interviews-bennie-maupin.php

And here's another good one too...

http://www.revive-music.com/2010/12/03/bennie-maupin-the-stories-of-bitches-brew/

Edited by Rooster_Ties
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Rooster - Thanks for sharing those interviews. Very interesting!

IMO, Maupin's contributions to Bitches Brew are incalculable. That rumbling, dark, brooding sound sets the record apart from so many others. It's part of what makes Bitches Brew so unforgettable.

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I'd love to hear what Marcus Miller has to say about Maupin's contributioons to Bitches Brew, and those other early 70's Miles sessions.  After all, Miller also plays Bass Clarinet in much the same sort of "textural" way as Maupin did back then -- and Miller also worked more closely with Miles in the 80's, than practically anyone after Miles' comeback.

Besides Maupin himself -- if anyone had some special insights into Maupin's role with Miles, I'd expect it'd be Miller.

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3 hours ago, Rooster_Ties said:

Been a while since I've listened to much of this, but I also seem to remember Maupin playing down on the lower half of the instrument if not exclusively, then a heck of a lot more than above the register break (not exactly an 'octave' key, but it's that key that gets you into the upper register, which has a much different timbre). 

       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       

Excuse the instrument-geek sidetrack here...

The "octave key" equivalent of the clarinet takes the same fingering from the low register and moves it up a an octave and a 5th (a 12th if you wanna get hardcore about it). The same fingering that gets you low E w/o that key will get you a middle B with it.

So yeah, an F will take you up to a C, but the next/open F# will not get you a C#, at least not one that's in tune. and then up from there, forget about symmetry between registers. And in between the middle G and that middle B, there's G#/Ab, A, A#/Bb, a set of notes known as "the break", and they were the leading bane of my attempts to learn clarinet almost 10 years after playing saxophone exclusively for almost 10 years. Even for people who really play clarinet, "the break" is a very real thing in and of itself. It's a bitch, period.

The objective with any instrument is to have a consistency of timbre across all ranges. On saxophone, it's work, but I could do it. There's an open side-key/closed key fingerings exercise, as well as a throat exercise to change octaves entirely by airflow alone, that Dave Liebman passed on from Joe Allard  that is pretty much the go-to exercise to work on that, becuase on saxophone, it's a direct match between octave fingurings, Not "easy" but all it takes is work and ears. On clrintet...there is no such exact symmetry, and to get from a middle Bd (closed keys at all) to a mere half-step up, a B (ALL closed keys) and not have a timbre change....obviously it can be done, but just as obviously to me, I could nevr do it.

Conventional wisdom is to start on clarinet, then learn the saxophone, and conventional wisdom is indeed correct about this, if you want to learn both instruments with any deal of real competence.

I actually played contra-bass clarinet in college symphonic band for a year. Lots of long, low notes, easy as hell to read, but you gotta hit those notes correct and hold them proper, because they're exposed like hell, and if you don't....everybody knows where the fuckup occurred. EVERYBODY. It's not a section! Both it and bass clarinet were easier for me to pick up because the embouchure was a lot closer to tenor, and - the big plus - the had padded keys, not open-holed ones.

Look at this fingering chart, see for yourself what the symmetries are and are not. I get dizzy just looking at it.

clarinet-fingering-chart.gif

Anyway, back to Bennie Maupin, a well-trained musician who no doubt learned it all the right way, and did the right work. Obviously!

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I liked the break by itself. It's flexible the way that the side keys on a saxophone are, cf Yusef Lateef, master of the side keys.

But clarinet...I love to hear it played well, but would die in a new york minute if my life depended on ever playing it again.

 

 

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17 hours ago, JSngry said:

But clarinet...I love to hear it played well, but would die in a new york minute if my life depended on ever playing it again.

I played clarinet (badly) in my last 3-4 years before high-school.  But one example of how bad I was, is that I never really learned how to "tongue" to start/stop the flow of air.  I really just used my gums more. Like I had my bottom-lip up over my lower teeth, and then I clamped down with my jaw to stop the airflow.  I never for the life of me could do it right with my tongue, so I was a lost cause from the git-go.  I also played bass-clarinet for one of those years, and I tried to play oboe for 3-4 months, but I was even worse at that (Embouchure-wise) than clarinet, if that was even possible.  And yeah, that register key not being a true octave key was a real bitch.  I never tried saxophone.

PS:  I really loved playing bass clarinet, btw.  The parts were more straight-forward, and more often about color (iirc), and a lot less playing above the break.  I would have been content to have played bass clarinet a lot more exclusively (granted, I was maybe 11 or 12 years old at the time).

Edited by Rooster_Ties
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22 hours ago, Rooster_Ties said:

Bennie Maupin played on a total of 11 fairly long sessions for Miles in 1969, '70, and '72 -- all exclusively on Bass Clarinet.  Has he ever commented much about working on these sessions? - and his role more as 'color' than as soloist (practically all 'color', iirc, right? - though some of it gets a lot busier than what one might call 'color' in a more Gil Evans type context, by way of contrast).

There's a decent amount of Maupin soloing on Bitches Brew, and IMHO it's great

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14 minutes ago, Guy Berger said:

There's a decent amount of Maupin soloing on Bitches Brew, and IMHO it's great

He certainly plays, but he's always somewhat down in the mix, and less at the forefront of things (like Miles and Wayne are), and usually mixed in a way that's more about texture and/or a collective-improv kind of vibe.  (Admittedly, I haven't spun Bitches Brew in a good year, so I'm going by memory.)

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2 minutes ago, Rooster_Ties said:

He certainly plays, but he's always somewhat down in the mix, and less at the forefront of things (like Miles and Wayne are), and usually mixed in a way that's more about texture and/or a collective-improv kind of vibe.  (Admittedly, I haven't spun Bitches Brew in a good year, so I'm going by memory.)

But mixing aside, he is functioning in these situations as a jazz soloist, much like Miles, Wayne, John McLaughlin... the bass clarinet solo on "Pharaoh's Dance" is particularly outstanding.

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Rooster, the low register of the clarinet (any size) is called the Chalumeau register (not that that weird name supplies any information). The key like an octave key is called the register key. The next register up is called the clarion register (written B through C), after which you have what is now called the altissimo register. The clarinet, having a cylindrical shape, rather than the saxophone's conical shape, only has odd harmonics, and the mouthpiece end acts as a "node" (no vibration). The register key makes the instrument go to the third harmonic, a twelfth higher than the Chalumeau range. The clarinet tube is half of a wavelength, which explains why the standard clarinet, only about 2' long, goes down to the concert D halfway down the bass clef, a low note for such a small instrument. I love having those low notes.

There is a problem with the bass clarinet. It really needs two register keys (after all, all saxophones have two), but cheaper ones have only the one. This is to help with the clarion (middle) register. That register is weak, and if you try to push the notes, you get a squeak, which is actually a high harmonic. Unless you have a mike, the drummer will invariably drown you out. For studio work, like the Miles sessions, the engineer can boost the sound.

There is some difference of opinion as to what the bottom note of a bass clarinet should be. The regular clarinet goes down to (written) E. All bass clarinets have a low Eb, in order to reach the low E of the virtually extinct bass clarinet in A. For many decades, some bass clarinets have gone down to C, but the additional keywork is a bit on the clumsy side, usually having two keys for the right thumb.

I haven't checked to see how low Bennie's bass clarinet goes, but although Eric Dolphy didn't have a low C instrument, I did hear a low D on one recording. You can get that on a low Eb instrument if you insert a piece of cardboard tube into the bell, though you then lose the low Eb.

While on the subject, Blue Note records invariably call the contra alto clarinet an alto clarinet, which it is not. Frank Foster used one (no doubt a rented horn) on a Duke Pearson session and also on an Elvin Jones session, where it was originally assumed to be a Bb bass clarinet.

Hope that helps.

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3 minutes ago, Shrdlu said:

While on the subject, Blue Note records invariably call the contra alto clarinet an alto clarinet, which it is not. Frank Foster used one (no doubt a rented horn) on a Duke Pearson session and also on an Elvin Jones session, where it was originally assumed to be a Bb bass clarinet.

Foster is listed as playing "Alto Clarinet" on the bonus session on the US CD reissue of "Manhattan Fever" -- and I think he only solos on it on just one track (the very last track, iirc).  And I think(?) it really is a true Eb Alto Clarinet (between a Standard and Bass Clarinet).  Here's the last track on the disc, and although the solo that starts a little after the 2:00 minute mark sounds a little high (almost like a Standard clarinet), I think in the ensemble parts it sounds more like an Alto to me (and certainly not a contra-alto).

My memory of the session is that the only prominent "clarinet" (of any sort) on the entire CD is just this one track (last track on the CD, from the bonus session).

 

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Yes, that really IS an alto clarinet (the one a fifth below the regular clarinet) there. But the others listed by Blue Note as "alto clarinet" are contra alto clarinets. I prefer the name Eb contrabass clarinet, but the clumsy name prevails.

For those who don't know, the contra alto clarinet is a fifth below the Bb "bass clarinet". They are very expensive, so they are rather rare.

To add to the story, there is a Bb "contrabass clarinet", which is very practical, but usually only used in ensemble work. It is an octave below the Bb bass clarinet, and two octaves below the standard Bb clarinet. It sounds like a harsh grunt in the low register.

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54 minutes ago, Rooster_Ties said:

He certainly plays, but he's always somewhat down in the mix, and less at the forefront of things (like Miles and Wayne are), and usually mixed in a way that's more about texture and/or a collective-improv kind of vibe.  (Admittedly, I haven't spun Bitches Brew in a good year, so I'm going by memory.)

 I hear it as kinda like a trombone in a trad jazz 3 horn front line, as 'the glue' whether it's improvised or not.

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