I`m not actually a oboist (?) but I`m composing a jazzy song and I`m at a loss of what instument will play the lead. I was experimenting and came accross the idea of having an oboe play it. Does anybody have any thoughts of an oboe playing jazz? Also--is the oboe too far from a clarinet that a clarinetist couldn`t doubble on it? I`m not a wind player in the least, I just admire those who play them, so I don`t know much about them.

Thanks!

There are a lot of oboe-jazz-musicians try to search them with google, you`ll find someting to listen so you can get an idea!

It depends how you look at it. The orthodox way is to restrict the oboe to classical music, but the non-orthodox way is to write oboe parts for pop or jazz.

Personally, I think it would be cool to see an oboe part for a jazz song!

I guess I might go ahead and see about putting an oboe in it and see what happens, but is oboe too different from clarinet that a clarinetist couldn`t doubble?

I`m planning on entering this song in a composition contest where if I win, I need to suply the musicians from my own school. But I don`t think that any of our oboists can do jazz. We certainly have clarinetists though that do.

I did a jazz piece on oboe. It was fun and it sounded really good.

my guess is that the clarinetists won`t be able to double. oboe comes from years of experience. i would think that with a little work, the oboeists at your school could figure out enough jazz to play the piece. good luck! sounds like fun!

jazz oboes are not that big of a deal for one of ower school peices i played a jazz part with the saxophones in a soli but went to a jazz solo for me at the end oboes surely can break into jazz

I was just listing to "Epitaph" by Charles Mingus. It was a 4000 measure jazz suite in 19 movts. written for 30 instruments. Unfortunately, a successful performance was made after his death by an all star group.

The piece was scored for 8 saxophones (doubling on various instruments), 6 trumpets, 6 trombones, bassoon, contrabass clarinet (yeah!), tuba, 2 pianos, 2 basses, drums, percussion, and vibes.

One of the saxophonists (the first tenor) doubled on oboe and English horn. He had some important parts, but no improvised solos. But the bassoon had a 5 chorus blues solo in one of the movts, "Wolverine Blues" (Mingus included this song because he greatly admired it). And you know what? The solo sounded really good, and he got tremendous applause!

Yeah, there were no oboe solos, but there was a bassoon solo, so why not oboe?

Plus, I`ve heard that Andrew Hill (a pianist) led a group and recorded a CD with an English Horn solo. I really don`t know the details though... I never bought any of his CDs.

Yes, oboe isn`t traditionally a jazz instrument. But if you can improvise, you may be able to have a solo on an appropriate song.

Good luck!

Is the Epitaph CD the same one that has Symphony for the Sons of Nam by James "Kimo" Williams?

No... this Epitaph is by Charles Mingus...

I think it is easier to find a oboist and teach them jazz than learn oboe from another instrument. There might be an oboist who plays and alternate instrument for jazz. Most people start on another instrument before oboe. As for and oboe in jazz... you just need to have a part that matches the instruments sound. Like Caravan by Duke Elington (sorry about the spelling)

right, i`m an oboist/cor anglais who also plays tenor sax/piano, and have played clarinet and bassoon, so i can maybe clarify a few things.

you couldn`t ask a clarinetist to just double on oboe... it`s in a different key, so the fingering for a c on clarinet is a g on oboe. also some of the fingerings are really differnt anyyway, not always linear, the mouth position is very different, and basically the oboe is a lot harder.

some oboists can play jazz, but cos most have only ever played fairly classical works it`s best if you can find one who also knows how to play jazzy piano, or saxaphone or somethin then you might have more luck with them understanding the rhythms.

generally i`d say that jazz cor anglais is a better idea. the embouchure when playing cor is a little freer than when playin oboe, so it`s easier to mess with notes and create different sounds without cracking notes and pitching. also if you are going to write jazz oboe make sure you leave space to breathe, cos though clarinetists and saxophonists can just snatch a breath, oboists have to breath out and then in, so it takes much longer.

hope that helps

Yeah,

I think its a good idea! I think if you learn to play properly, so you know how to improvise, the oboes up with the best.

I`d like to make a note.

It`s not really hard to learn how to do jazz on an oboe - as a matter of fact, it`s quite fun. I`m playing a piece now (Open Wide) that`s nothing but jazz. Just have the players run over basic jazz rhythms (doo dat, etc.). Or, have the oboists play some alto-sax jazz stuff along with the sax, copying the style. Lots of ways to learn...

~Chris

I play jazz oboe! Check out my website at: www.popoboe.com
I just released my third cd with smooth jazz meets new age music styles. I`m currently working on rock tunes! Higher, by Creed, Ariels,by System of a Down.. Yes, explore all musical options with this instument!!