Clarinet Corner

Clarinet Corner

November 8, 2015 By: Valerie Hall

Clarinet Players Almost as Good as Squidward

            We could argue about the greatest clarinet players, such as Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, and even the bebop player Eddie Daniels. My personal favorites though are Artie Shaw, who is an all-time favorite very similar to Benny Goodman, a New Orleans street player Doreen Jazz, German player Karl Leister, and finally another New Orleans musician Pete Fountain. All of these musicians play the clarinet but very different in technique and musically. First I would like to start off with Artie Shaw playing Begin the Beguine.

5/5 Stars

            Artie Shaw was a very good showman. He had his own band that he performed with called the Artie Shaw Orchestra. He would write the music for the band and conduct the band. That’s extremely impressive, to me, being the conductor and arranger of the band. He was also an actor and served in World War II. Shaw mainly focused on swing and big band genres because he was very active during the late 1930’s to the 1940’s. He kept up with popular music, like jazz after the mid 1940’s. He retired in 1954. In the video above Shaw performed Cole Porters, Begin the Beguine in 1938 with his orchestra. Artie Shaw is definitely one of my favorites because he makes the music very energized yet still smooth and sweet. This performance just makes me want go back in time and be able to take in the music live. He’s very good example to look at for stage presence. Overall I would rate this performance 5/5 star.

5/5 Stars

            This fantastic clarinet player is named Doreen Jazz playing Just a Closer Walk with Thee. I cannot explain exactly how much I love her and the way she plays the clarinet. When I heard this performance by her, it made me shutter and feel this tingling inside me. I felt so tense in the most comfortable way. I wish I was in the audience and yell “You go GIRL!” because she plays with such soul. I’ve been to New Orleans and I’ve seen her play live. It was so odd to see her play with this little band made up of her, a small drum set, and a sousaphone. I personally believe that she belongs to play for much larger groups and not play on the streets ever. But, I realized that she shouldn’t because this makes the performance even more raw. She helps makeup New Orleans and that’s just something so amazing to witness. I remember my father asking her about her breathing and how she is able to hold those long notes. Turns out she has this thing called circular breathing which adds on to the list of her being so different than the other artist. For this performance I would give it a 5/5 stars because it is so soulful and amusing.

3.5/5 Stars

(Skip to 2:05 to see beginning of performance)

            This is clarinetist Karl Leister playing Romanza. He is German and very successful. Leister started playing as a young child and went on to join the Berlin Philharmonic in 1959 and still continues to play on occasion. This performance was recorded at Clarinet Fest 2015, so you can imagine how long he has been playing. He became very successful and was a soloist but also started to teach upcoming artist. Even though he is not my taste, I had to put in a musician for you classical lovers. He is actually pretty good because he plays with such confidence and is very good at controlling his notes and dynamics. The only problem with me and his performance is the way he connected with audience. He was as genuine as I would’ve liked to see and he looked as if he faked being into the music with his cheesy body movements. This performance I would give 3.5 Stars because it wasn’t as bad as I expected and I kind of liked it even though it wasn’t my taste.

4.5/5 Stars

            This jazzy player is also from New Orleans like Doreen Jazz. The Cornel Sanders lookalike is named Pete Fountain. This video is Basin Street Blues played in 1992. This performance is very similar to Doreen’s performance. I think they’re still very different though because even though he is soulful he doesn’t bring the dame emotion to me. He also seems more professional jazz player than a soulful one to me. This is still one of my favorites because of the beginning. I think is tone is one of the best and beginning gives me chills still. His performance level is also equally as good because he makes the song relatable and enjoyable. Tis performance by Pete Fountain gets a 4/5 Stars in my book.

            All of these players you have viewed very exceptionally good and enjoyable. From classical player Karl Leister to oldie Artie Shaw, these were my top favorite artist and live performances.