- Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman, born Benjamin David Goodman, (May 30, 1909 - June 13, 1986) was an American jazz musician, known as "King of Swing", "Patriarch of the Clarinet", "The Professor", and "Swing's Senior Statesman". - Kenny Davern
John Kenneth Davern, better known as Kenny Davern, was one of the premier jazz clarinetists of his generation. He was born in Huntington, Long Island to a family of mixed Jewish and Irish-Catholic ancestry. His mother’s family originally came from Vienna, Austria, were his great-grandfather Alfred Roth had been a colonel in the Austro-Hungarian cavalry, the highest rank accessible to a Jew in the Habsburg Imperial army. - Johnny Dodds
Johnny Dodds (April 12 1892-August 8 1940) was a New Orleans based jazz clarinetist and alto saxophonist, best known for his recordings under his own name and with bands such as those of Joe "King" Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Lovie Austin and Louis Armstrong. Born in Waveland, Mississippi, he moved to New Orleans in his youth, and studied clarinet with Lorenzo Tio. He played with the bands of Frankie Duson, Kid Ory, and Joe "King" Oliver. - Artie Shaw
Artie Shaw (May 23, 1910, New York, New York - December 30, 2004, Thousand Oaks, California) is considered to be one of the best jazz musicians of his time jazz clarinetist, composer, bandleader; he is also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writings. - Leon Roppolo
Leon Roppolo (March 16, 1902 - October 5, 1943) was a prominent early jazz clarinetist, best known for his playing with the New Orleans Rhythm Kings. Roppolo also played saxophone and guitar. Roppolo married Mabel Alice Branchard on 17 May 1920 in New Orleans. They had one child, Epifanio Leon Roppolo Sr. Leon Joseph Roppolo (nicknamed "Rap" and sometimes misspelled as 'Rappolo') was born in Lutcher, Louisiana, upriver from New Orleans. - George Lewis
George Lewis (13 July, 1900 - 31 December, 1968) was an American jazz clarinetist who achieved his greatest fame and influence in his later decades of life. (Some sources give 1969 as the year of his death, but see Lewis' obituary in the New Orleans Times-Picayune, cited on page 277 in Tom Bethell's George Lewis: A Jazzman From New Orleans, published in 1977 by University of California Press.) George Lewis' actual legal name was George Louis Francois Zenon. - Woody Herman
Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16 1913 - October 29 1987), better known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. - Woody Allen
Woody Allen is a three-time Academy Award-winning American film director, writer, actor, jazz musician, comedian, and playwright. His large body of work and cerebral film style, mixing satire, wit and humor, have made him one of the most respected and prolific filmmakers in the modern era. Allen writes and directs his movies and has also acted in the majority of them. For inspiration, Allen draws heavily on literature, philosophy, psychology, Judaism, … - Harry Shields
Harry Shields (June 30, 1899 - January 19, 1971) was an early jazz clarinetist. Harry Shields was born in uptown New Orleans, Louisiana, the younger brother of noted clarinetist Larry Shields. Harry spent almost his whole career in New Orleans. He played with the bands of Norman Brownlee, Sharkey Bonano, Tom Brown, Johnny Wiggs, and others. Many fellow musicians regarded Harry as superior to his more famous brother, Larry. - Larry Shields
Lawrence James "Larry" Shields (September 13, 1893 - November 21, 1953) was an early American dixieland jazz clarinetist. Shields was born in Uptown New Orleans, on the same block where jazz pioneer Buddy Bolden lived. Shields' family were musical; his brothers Harry, Pat (guitar), and Eddie (piano) all played music professionally. Shields started playing clarinet when he was 14 and played with Papa Jack Laine's bands. - Alcide Nunez
Alcide Patrick Nunez was an early jazz clarinetist. Also known as Yellow Nunez and Al Nunez, he was born in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana of an Isleño family and moved to New Orleans in his childhood. He initially played guitar, then switched to clarinet about 1902. He soon became one of the top hot clarinetists in the city. He was a regular in Papa Jack Laine's band, … - Sidney Bechet
Sidney Bechet (May 14, 1897 - May 14, 1959) was a jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important soloists in jazz (beating cornetist/trumpeter Louis Armstrong to the recording studio by several months and later playing duets with Armstrong), and was perhaps the first notable jazz saxophonist of any sort. Forceful delivery, well-constructed improvisations, and a distinctive wide vibrato characterized Bechet's playing. - Barney Bigard
Albany Leon Bigard (March 3, 1906 - June 27, 1980) was an American jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist, though primarily known for the clarinet. Barney Bigard was born in New Orleans and studied music and clarinet with Lorenzo Tio. He moved to Chicago in the early 1920s, where he worked with "King" Joe Oliver and others. During this period, much of his recording with Oliver and others including clarinetist Johnny Dodds was on tenor saxophone, … - Jimmy Dorsey
James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter and big band leader. Jimmy Dorsey was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the son of a music teacher and older brother of Tommy Dorsey who also became a prominent musician. He played trumpet in his youth, appearing on stage in a Vaudeville act as early as 1913. He switched to alto saxophone in 1915, and then learned to double on clarinet. - Jimmie Noone
Jimmie Noone (or Jimmy Noone; born April 23 1895 in Cut Off, Louisiana - died April 19 1944 in Los Angeles, California) was an American jazz clarinetist. - Lorenzo Tio
Lorenzo Tio Jr. (1893-1933) was a master clarinetist from New Orleans, as were his father Lorenzo Tio Sr. (1867-1908) and uncle Louis "Papa" Tio (1862-1922). Their method of playing the instrument (which involved the Albert system, a double-lip embouchure and soft reeds) was seminal in the development of the jazz solo. The three Tios helped bring classical music theory to the ragtime, blues and jazz musicians of New Orleans; Lorenzo Jr. - Lester Young
Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 - March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. He is remembered as one of the finest, most influential players on his instrument and for inventing or establishing much of the hipster ethos which came to be associated with jazz. - Jimmy Giuffre
James Peter Giuffre (born in Dallas, Texas, April 26, 1921) is an American jazz composer, arranger and saxophone and clarinet player. Giuffre first became known as an arranger for Woody Herman's big band, for which he wrote the celebrated "Four Brothers" (1947). He would continue to write creative, unusual arrangements throughout his career. Giuffre was a member of Shorty Rogers's groups before going solo. Giuffre played clarinet, as well as tenor and baritone saxophones, … - Mezz Mezzrow
Milton Mesirow, better known as Mezz Mezzrow (9 November, 1899-5 August, 1972) was an American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist from Chicago, Illinois. Mezzrow is well-known for organizing and financing historic recording sessions with Tommy Ladnier and Sidney Bechet. Mezzrow also recorded a number of times with Bechet and briefly acted as manager for Louis Armstrong. - Eddie Daniels
Eddie Daniels (born 19 October 1941) is a prolific American musician. Though he is most well-known as a jazz clarinet player, he has also played alto and tenor saxophones, as well as classical music on the clarinet. Daniels was born in New York City to a Jewish family. He was raised in the Brighton Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City. He became interested in jazz as a teenager when he was impressed by the musicians accompanying singers, such as Frank Sinatra, … - Don Byron
Don Byron (born November 8 1958) is a composer, jazz clarinet, bass clarinet and saxophone player. While he is considered a jazz musician, he is stylistically very adventurous, having recorded klezmer music, German lieder, Raymond Scott's "cartoon-jazz," a Jimi Hendrix song, and a track with rapper Biz Markie. - Pee Wee Russell
Charles Ellsworth Russell, much better known by his nickname Pee Wee Russell, (27 March, 1906 - 15 February, 1969) was a jazz musician. Early in his career he played clarinet and saxophones, but eventually focused solely on clarinet. Russell was born in Maplewood, Missouri and grew up in Muskogee, Oklahoma. - Michael Moore
Michael Moore (born December 4, 1954) is an American-born jazz musician (clarinet, saxophone) and composer who has resided in the Netherlands since 1982. - Johnny Hodges
John Cornelius "Johnny" Hodges (25 July, 1907-11 May, 1970) was an American alto saxophonist and lead player of Duke Ellington's saxophone section, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He spent 38 years with Ellington, leaving to lead his own band from 1951 to 1955. Hodges started playing with Lloyd Scott, Sidney Bechet, Lucky Roberts and Chick Webb. When Ellington wanted to expand his band in 1928, Ellington's clarinet player Barney Bigard recommended Hodges, … - Flip Phillips
Flip Phillips (February 26, 1915-August 17, 2001) was a jazz tenor saxophone and clarinet player. He is best remembered for his work with Jazz at the Philharmonic from 1946 to 1957. Over a long career, he played on many albums, retired to Florida for fifteen years, came back to music, and recorded a CD for Verve Records when he was in his 80s. Phillips performed in a variety of genres, not just jazz. - Richard Stoltzman
Richard Stoltzman (b. July 12, 1942) is an American clarinetist. Stoltzman was born in Omaha, Nebraska and spent his early years in San Francisco, California and Cincinnati, Ohio, graduating from Woodward High School in 1960. Today, Stoltzman is part of the faculty list at the New England Conservatory. Stoltzman is perhaps the most well-known clarinetist who primarily plays classical music. - Buddy Defranco
Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco (born February 17, 1923 in Camden, New Jersey) is a jazz clarinet player. DeFranco had the bad fortune to begin his professional career just as Swing Music and Big Bands - so many of which were led by clarinet players like Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman and Woody Herman - were fading in popularity. DeFranco was perhaps the only major jazz clarinet player to adapt to this change, and until the 1980's, … - Omer Simeon
Omer Victor Simeon (21 July, 1902 - 17 September, 1959) was an American jazz clarinetist. He also played soprano, alto, and baritone saxophone and bass clarinet. Omer Simeon was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of a cigar maker. His family moved to Chicago, Illinois. He learned clarinet from the New Orleans master Lorenzo Tio, Jr., and started playing professionally in 1920. He worked in Chicago and Milwaukee, Wisconsin with various bands, … - Frank Teschemacher
Frank Teschemacher (March 13 1906, Kansas City, Missouri - March 1 1932, Chicago) was an American jazz clarinetist and alto-saxophonist, associated with the "Austin High" gang (along with Jimmy McPartland, Bud Freeman and others). He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, but spent most of his career based in Chicago, Illinois, although gigs sometimes took him to New York City, around the U.S. Midwest, and he also took a job in Florida with Charlie Straight. - Tony Scott
Tony Scott (born Anthony Sciacca June 17, 1921 - March 28, 2007) was a jazz clarinetist known for an interest in folk music around the world. For most of his career he has also been of some interest in New Age music circles because of his decades long interest in music linked to Asian cultures and to meditation. Born in Morristown, New Jersey, Scott attended Juilliard School from 1940 to 1942. In the 1950s he worked with Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday. - David Murray
David Murray (born February 19, 1955 in Oakland, California, United States) is a notable jazz musician. Murray plays mainly tenor saxophone and sometimes bass clarinet. He has recorded prolifically on a variety of labels since the mid-1970s. One critic dubbed Murray the Joyce Carol Oates of jazz, comparing Murray's prolific and consistently highly-regarded work to the noted novelist's. - Evan Christopher
Evan Christopher is a jazz clarinetist, born in 1974 in Long Beach, California. A master of many styles, he is best known for his playing in the traditional New Orleans jazz of Dixieland and the Creole style. He began learning the clarinet at the age of 11. In high school, he was a recipient of the Louis Armstrong National Jazz Award and was one of the first graduates of the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts. - Don Redman
Donald Matthew Redman (July 29, 1900, Piedmont, West Virginia - November 30, 1964, New York) was an American jazz musician, arranger, and composer. Redman was born in Piedmont, West Virginia. His father was a music teacher, his mother was a singer. Don began playing the trumpet at the age of 3, joined his first band at 6 and by age 12 he was proficient on all wind instruments ranging from trumpet to oboe as well as piano. - Michael White
Michael White (born 29 November, 1954 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is a jazz clarinetist, bandleader, composer, jazz historian and musical educator. Scott Yanow, a jazz critic, said in a review that Michael "displays the feel and spirit of the best New Orleans clarinetists." - Buster Bailey
William C. "Buster" Bailey (1902-1967) was a talented Jazz musician specializing in the clarinet, but also well versed on saxophone. Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, Bailey was one of the most respected session players of his era. - Irving Fazola
Irving Fazola was an American jazz clarinetist. Fazola or Faz was born in New Orleans, Louisiana as Irving Henry Prestopnik. He got the nickname Fazola from his childhood skill at Solfege ("Fa-Sol-La"). He decided to use the nickname as his family name, and many fellow musicians were unaware that Fazola was not his birth name. Influenced early on by Leon Roppolo, who Fazola continued to idolize throughout his life, … - Tommy Douglas
Tommy Douglas (November 9, 1911-9 March, 1965) is or was an American jazz clarinetist, bandleader and reed instrumentalist born in Eskridge, Kansas, probably better known for his work as a sideman for Jelly Roll Morton and Bennie Moten. He was also an accomplished bandleader, showcasing such talent in his bands as Charlie Parker and Jo Jones, among others. He also performed with Captain Woolmack's Band and the Clarence Love Orchestra. - J. D. Parran
J. D. Parran is an American multi-woodwind player, educator, and composer specializing in jazz and free improvised music. He plays the soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, and bass saxophone, as well as the E-flat clarinet, clarinet, alto clarinet, bass clarinet, contra-alto clarinet, flute, piccolo, alto flute, bamboo flute, bamboo saxophone, and "nagaswaram". Parran possesses a virtuosic technique and mastery over a number of extended techniques for these instruments. - Sam Rivers
Samuel Carthorne Rivers (born September 25, 1923, El Reno, Oklahoma) is a jazz musician and composer. He performs on soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet, flute, and piano. - Louis Sclavis
Louis Sclavis (b. Lyon, France, February 2, 1953) is a French jazz musician. He performs on clarinet, bass clarinet, and soprano saxophone in a variety of contexts, including jazz and free jazz. His music shows great creativity and a lively sense of humor. Sclavis began his musical education at the "conservatoire de Lyon" at age 9, where he studied clarinet. He began performing with the Lyon Workshop, where he met Michel Portal and Bernard Lubat.
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