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CD Review:  The Jimmy Giuffre Clarinet [Collectables]

It is a mystery that the clarinet is virtually absent from modern jazz. Its lovely sound and fluid elegance would seem a natural for music with such high level technical demands. As the "lady" of early jazz, it may have peaked early, to be displaced by the more flexible saxophone. Whatever the reason, once past Buddy DeFranco, Eddie Daniels, Tony Scott and Bill Smith, there seem to be no major jazz clarinet influences.

There are some marvelous obscure players like Ron Odrich, Don Byron and Brad Terry, who bring brilliance and creativity to the instrument, and probably others lost in small jazz corners somewhere. With this reissue we encounter the most unrealized promise of the clarinet in modern jazz. Recorded in 1956, it is as much a breakthrough now as then.

Giuffre mostly uses a soft, mellow low register, juxtaposing that sound with such exotic ones as English horn, alto flute, bass clarinet, oboe and bassoon. The effect is startling and forward looking. He uses the language of folk music, modern classical music, and jazz in as dazzling and wide ranging a display of eclecticism as any I have ever heard. And lest anyone fear ostentation in such an approach, Giuffre's music is modest, understated, and funky.

It is hard to imagine anyone else starting and ending a recording session with "Clarinet And Foot Tapping" but that is exactly what he does. This Giuffre collection takes the listener on a musical journey through a sonorous landscape of innovation, originality, and beauty.

 - Bob Sparkman  January 7, 2004

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