100 Jazz Tunes Everyone Should Hear (#29) Jelly Roll Morton * The Chant
#29 - Jelly Roll Morton - The Chant (1926) This band, people...this band...listen to how organically and easily they hit everything together, and the perfect delineations of the colors of the...
View Article100 Jazz Tunes Everyone Should Hear (#30) Artie Shaw - My Funny Valentine
#30 - Artie Shaw - My Funny Valentine Hey, it's February 14th, so why not? This version also happens to be one of the great, final recording of Artie Shaw and his Gramercy 5[ This is not a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Some Upcoming Dates
For those of you around the Cleveland/Akron area, here are some upcoming dates where you can catch me in various groups.
View Article100 Jazz Tunes Everyone Should Hear (#31) Peggy Lee
#31 - Peggy Lee - My Heart Belongs to Daddy I've always loved the way Peggy Lee got a band to eat out of her hand...how she holds them back till they burst...how they jump when she whispers...no...
View Article100 Jazz Tunes Everyone Should Hear (#32) Paul Desmond with Dave Brubeck -...
#32 - Paul Desmond with Dave Brubeck - Audrey - 1955 The opening number of the Dave Brubeck Quartet's first album - Brubeck Time - is immediately gripping in its understated beauty, inspired by actress...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mardi Gras and the Burning River Jazz Band!
Mardi Gras is here! Today my Burning River Jazz Band will be playing the Fatima Family Center between 1 and 2pm, sponsored by Roots Of American Music ... Then, we'll be swinging hard, leading our 5th...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Clarinet Gear Review: Reginald Kell's 1956 Boosey & Hawkes Series 2000 Bb...
Today I had the unique opportunity to play through many clarinets in the Arthur Benade Collection. Benade was a physicist whose work focused on the acoustics of wind instruments, and who taught at...
View Article100 Jazz Tunes Everyone Should Hear (#33) - Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot...
#33 - Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers - Hello Central, Give Me Dr. Jazz To everyone out there who reads The Jazz Clarinet -- I'm praying for all of you, every day during this COVID-19 pandemic....
View Article100 Jazz Tunes Everyone Should Hear (#34) - Miles Davis - Prayer (Oh Doctor...
#34 - Miles Davis - Prayer (Oh Doctor Jesus) I'm a huge fan of Gershwin's opera Porgy & Bess -- such a huge fan that I generally don't even like tunes being excerpted by jazz musicians (there are...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bill Smith, William O. Smith, Br. Roy Parker, and Me (R.I.P William O. 'Bill'...
I learned just yesterday, via the NY Times obituary, that one of the greatest of all clarinetists, William O. Smith (better know to jazz audiences as Bill Smith) passed away last February 29th. He was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bill Smith * Near-Myth/Brubeck-Smith * Fantasy Records * OJC-236 (F-3319) *...
Side A1. The Unihorn2. Bach An' All3. Siren Song4. Pan's Pipes5. By JupiterSide B1. Baggin' The Dragon2. Apollo's Axe3. The Sailor And The Mermaid4. Nep-Tune5. Pan DanceBill Smith - clarinetDave...
View ArticleBill Smith * Concerto for Clarinet and Combo * Shelly Manne & His Men Vol 6 *...
The amount of great music for clarinet by the late Bill Smith seems pretty immense, if hidden all over the internet. I just stumbled across this Concerto for Clarinet & Combo this morning. It...
View ArticleJazzTimes Critics List Clarinetists in their Underrated Class
In a JazzTimes article originating in 1997, but updated only a few weeks ago, thirteen critics were invited to sound off on which among the jazz greats were overrated and which were more...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The ICCC Jazz Clarinet Competition is OPEN
To all readers of The Jazz Clarinet, especially young professionals out of work due to the pandemic: I'm thrilled to announce the opening of the ICCC Jazz Clarinet Competition. This is a competition...
View ArticleEric Seddon Interview with Simon Wyrsch
He said I was his 111th interview (that makes me eleventy-first!) Great time chatting about our instrument in jazz.
View ArticleClik here to view.
ICCC Jazz Division Winners
This past Fall, in the devastating wake of the pandemic that has wiped away gigs of musicians around the globe, I was asked to be a judge for the jazz division of the International Clarinet Corona...
View ArticleKen Peplowski on Benny Goodman (for the LAST TIME!)
In the wake of the ICCC Jazz Competition, I've made it my business to pay more attention to my fellow judges' websites--to check out what they're up to, the projects they've been involved with, and dig...
View ArticleVintage Y2K Don Byron Interview
For some reason, I've just finally stumbled across a short but fascinating interview with Don Byron dating January 1, 2000: the very day we were all sitting around wondering if all the computers in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
My Interview for The Clarinet
I'm honored to have been interviewed by Eva Wasserman-Margolis for The Clarinet (the journal of the International Clarinet Association). In the interview, Eva and I discuss jazz, faith, and family. Enjoy!
View ArticleClik here to view.
Jazz Clarinet Gear Review: 'Golden Era' 1966 Buffet R13 (possibly owned by...
It's not often that a newly refurbished, high quality mid century instrument falls into your lap for a test-drive, but that's precisely what happened to me this week. Local Clevelander Patrick Price,...
View Article
