Originally published in The Clarinet 51/3 (June 2024).
Copies of The Clarinet are available for ICA members.
The Jazz Scene
Top Jazz/Global Music Clarinet Recordings, Part 2
by Timothy Bonenfant and the Jazz/Global Music Committee
Click here for Part 1
In the last issue of The Clarinet, members of the ICA Jazz and Global Music Committee recommended 15 examples of our favorite recordings. In this, our second article, three other members present their choices: Alex Simu from the Netherlands, Catherine Wood from Canada, and Timothy Bonenfant, the Texas state chair for the ICA. Our final set of committee members will present their choices in the next issue. A playlist titled “ICA Jazz/World Music Top 5 Album Recommendations” is available on YouTube.
Alex Simu recommends:
Buddy DeFranco and Oscar Peterson Play George Gershwin
Buddy DeFranco is the pinnacle of bebop on the clarinet. The synthesis of jazz language in the playing of Buddy DeFranco reaches a stratospheric level on this album. The beautiful phrases which originated and defined this jazz style from Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie appear now in in the mellifluous sonority of the clarinet and grace of Buddy DeFranco.
The Masters of Persian Traditional Music – Master Shirkhodaee
This is a gem! A cut, polished, and rare precious stone of clarinet playing. Unmatched and unparalleled. I discovered it by a huge coincidence when I entered the Mahur label store in Tehran in 2008. Nobody else brought a segment of the Persian musical heritage to the clarinet like Master Shirkhodaee. This is a must-listen even just for its rarity, not only for the extreme high level of musicianship and artistry presented.
John Abercrombie and John Ruocco, Topics
The recordings of John Ruocco are rare. Yet each time John Ruocco plays, a world opens. The clarinetist who integrated profoundly the clarinet into hard bop and modern jazz language is John Ruocco. On this record together with another jazz legend, John Abercrombie, they explore both standards and free playing. Listen to how many sonorities and textures can be created and expressed on the clarinet.
Dhafer Youssef, Birds Requiem (Hüsnü Şenlendirici)
Hüsnü Şenlendirici is, indisputably, the ultimate god of Turkish clarinet playing. Clarinets might have been developed in Germany and nowadays are made in France, yet, the clarinet is at home in Turkey like nowhere else on this planet. Hüsnü changed and refined the way the clarinet could be integrated and played within Turkish music. On this album, though he has a supporting role, his playing sings out the most fine nuances of Turkish clarinet artistry. You’ll discover textures which range from traditional and fusion to moments which sound as perhaps envisioned by Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Eric Dolphy at the Five Spot, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2
If Eric Dolphy needs an introduction, we need to ring the alarm button. Every clarinetist has to know how this artist changed forever the way the bass clarinet could be played. To him we owe all other bass clarinet solo artists which gave stage to this instrument. Get over the “wooden classical ears” commentaries about the sound of Eric Dolphy on the bass clarinet. You need to hear the music, not the sound, in the same way it would be inappropriate for classical saxophonists to make comments on the sound of John Coltrane or Wayne Shorter. All the records of Dolphy are legendary; I chose these because of the high level of synergy and interplay between the musicians.
Catherine Wood recommends:
Phil Nimmons (Canadian jazz legend who recently passed away after turning 100 last year!)
Atlantic Suite; Nimmons ’n’ Nine; Nimmons ’n’ Braid (with David Braid on piano, another Canadian legend). See his website for all albums, including duos with Canadian clarinetist James Campbell.
*Another Canadian to check out is Virginia MacDonald.
Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman: Live at Carnegie Hall (Columbia Records); Benny Goodman on the Air (1937-1938) aka 1937-38 Jazz Concert No. 2 (Columbia Records)
Anat Cohen Claroscuro
Artie Shaw
Big Band Legends: Artie Shaw
Includes 36 of Shaw’s greatest hits (with his Concerto as well)—good value as a set.
Pete Fountain
Best of Pete Fountain; High Society
Tim Bonenfant recommends:
Eddie Daniels, Memos from Paradise
Recommended track: “Eight-Pointed Star”
While some people might prefer Daniels’s Breakthrough, for me his chamber jazz album Memos From Paradise is an underappreciated gem and a better representation of his chamber-like approach to the instrument. Backed by a combination of string quartet, piano/celeste, bass, drumset/percussion, and with almost all of the writing by pianist Roger Kellaway, this album balances the improvisational with the compositional in a unique manner.
Don Byron, A Fine Line
Recommended track: “Reach Out,
I’ll Be There”
I knew I had to have something by Don Byron on this list. I am just fascinated by his playing and approach. The default album for most people who have heard his work is Don Byron Plays Mickey Katz, but there is so much more to his work than this admittedly fine record. I could have picked Nu Blaxploitation, or Bug Music just as easily as A Fine Line, but this wins out for me right now (although tomorrow that might be different!). The duets with Uri Caine are truly unique, but the combo numbers are equally as good. The featured vocalists highlight the theme of the album, Byron’s love of a great melody.
Ivo Popasov, Balkanology
Recommended track: “Hristiankova Kopanitsa”
I chose this album because it is both a jazz album and a “global” music album, and therefore represents both aspects of what our group is exploring, plus it’s an amazing record! I forget where I learned about Ivo Papasov and his band, but I was just stunned when I first heard it. I’ve played in bands that performed Eastern European folk music, but this record takes my own experience with this style of music up several levels.
John Carter, Castles of Ghana
I had the privilege of hearing John Carter and Bobby Bradford play live at CalArts when I was attending school there. He was creating sounds I didn’t know were possible on clarinet. To some people, this was a major criticism: “He doesn’t sound like a clarinet.” My reaction was “Yeah, isn’t it great!” I remember hearing him play an unaccompanied solo based on the theme from the opening track on this album, although I hadn’t heard of the album yet. But the solo was so memorable that when I heard the album, I immediately recalled that performance. Each of the other musicians are just as powerful in their performances.
Sidney Bechet, Ken Burns Jazz Compilation
Recommended track: “Blue Horizon”
Sidney Bechet, along with Johnny Dodds and Omer Simeon, were some of the first jazz clarinet players on recordings. His sound has always been unique, with his rapid fire vibrato that defined the sound of many Dixieland players of the early ’20s. He recorded both on soprano saxophone and clarinet, but his approach is nearly identical on both instruments. This tune features Bechet’s command of the entire range of the clarinet, from its chocolaty chalumeau to its screaming altissimo.
In our closing installment, we’ll hear from the remaining members of the committee. We hope you are all discovering new and interesting players and music.
