There is room for all instruments in jazz. How can anyone say there should not be this or that in jazz? That is what jazz is all about. You can play jazz with an accordion or a bassoon and it will still be jazz. The fact that you personaly do not like it is another story. It would be like me saying that opera should not exist because I don`t like opera singers voices. What a crazy post.

LMAO... if jazz clarinet sounds exactly like a sax, and jazz clarinet sucks, does that mean your beloved sax sucks as well?

anyways... erm.. iunno what ur talking about... honestly, the clarinet sounds nothing like a sax. anyone who can`t see a difference is a moron.

i wanna learn jazz clarinet... hmm... or even jazz bassoon...

So if I play jazz on my sax and then go and play jazz on a clarinet it`s not the same thing? get real - you are starting to sound like a classical music pedant! It`s different - like a man singing a tune sounds different to a woman singing the same tune, but having everything the same is very boring.

Attend a wilder jam session. We play with clarinets, Sax, French Horn(me)
Guitars, and anything else that turns up. The Keyboard player, however, is a bit of a clown. He can mimic anything pretty well. We all play to the strengths and sound of our instruments, skill, and muse.
Clarinet sounding like a Sax. Pah !!
Even Mozart can swing

Saxplayer,

That`s a little narrowminded to suggest that all jazz clarinets sound like saxophones. Have you heard Ken Peplowski? He has the most mellow tone! Nothing at all like a sax and he plays tenor also. And Benny didn`t sound like a saxophone when he played. There was no doubt what he was playing on a recording.

Alyssa

-- "no offense ,but i think jazz clarinet is totally "wrong". " --

I disagree 100%!!

The clarinet sounds fantastic in jazz. Listen to any Mozart clarinet quartet, or even the concerto and you could quite easily imagine that part being taken by a flute or oboe. Now listen to a Dixieland band. Flute? Oboe? Violin? I don`t think so.

I agree that playing any jazz is far more difficult than classical pieces, but it allows scope of improvisation that just doesn`t exist within the conservative confines of classical music.

For the record, I love both. Life`s too short!

Steve

I don`t know if anyone has brought this up to you yet,Eddie, because I didn`t take the time to read all of the posts, but, I am confused just a teensy bit. Because you say that "jazz clarinet is totally `wrong`", and that "clarinets weren`t meant to play jazz" and that saxophones should play instead. Right there I`m think `Oh, ok he must like saxophone more than jazz clarinet`, but then you said that jazz clarinet sounds like a saxophone, especially when vibrato is used. And you also go on to say that "jazz clarinet just sounds bad". So, are you saying that you don`t like saxophone either? Because to me that`s what it sounds like, but then earlier in your post you made it sounds like you liked saxophone and not the jazz clarinet. So, if you could just clear up this confusion for me that would be great.

CAN I JUST NOTE THAT IT`S SAXOPHONE NOT saxAphone...

its just a damn letter. calm down, do you think it honestly matters?

no isaid it wasn`t right to assume saxes are always jazzy and that clarinets are always classical. ty re-reading my post, I don`t feel like re writing it.

Posters keep talking about jazz clarinet greats: artie shaw, benny goodman, ken peplowski. I`ve heard some great modern stuff. A month ago I was in Pittsburgh, a band Thoth Trio had a soprano sax/ clarinetist who blew the house down. For some reason, I feel like the jazz clarinet can get a kind of intellectual-jazz sound, especially because it can go from low to high octaves so quickly, at least it gives my brain a buzz. He played a few of the quick old-sound riffs, but it had the intensity of a good coltrane (esque) solo.
Clarinet doesn`t sound like a sax, by the way, unless you can`t tell the difference between the two, in which case you should re-evaluate how you listen to music.
ps. Is there a great place for clarinet sheet music? I`ve been looking online, and will continue looking, unless someone has one at hand.

Ok, my highschool pep band just started letting clarinets in. my friends that play sax and trumpet keep telling me that clarinets don`t sound good playing jazz music. what are some famous musicians who played jazz on clarinet?? I need to prove that they`re wrong.

Hello there,

I play jazz clarinet and I wouldn`t have it any other way. I also play the soprano sax and jazz piano. We all know that jazz has a language all it`s own. It allows you to be expressive and say what you want in your own language. A lot of times when people improvise on an instrument, they say too much. It is true that jazz clarinet wasn`t used for a while. It was simply because when the bebop era came about, the clarinet player had to be very proficient on the instrument. Clarinet is not an easy instrument to play but it is an expressive instrument that`s good for jazz. I can`t believe how some people can put it down. It teaches you a lot of discipline.