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Posted

At the end of January 2005, Buddy DeFranco will come to play in Tel-Aviv. Of course I would like to see him because Mr. DeFranco is one of the great clarinetists of all time. But I am still debating. The reason is that Buddy DeFranco is almost 82 and I am not sure how his playing level is in this age. If one of you had the honor to listen to Buddy DeFranco recently, Please let me know your impressions.

Posted

No disrespect intended to DeFranco (I'm a fan) or to Tel-Aviv (I'm Jewish), but there's something about the rhythm/sound combo of the phrase "Buddy DeFranco is coming to Tel-Aviv" that just cracked me up.

Posted

To answer your question, while I didn't hear DeFracno the last time he was in town, about a year ago, a friend whose opinion I respect did hear him and said that Buddy was in fine form. My sense is that a lot depends on who he's playing with and what the overall concept is. A good rhythm section with Buddy calling the shots as far as repertoire and you should be more than OK; on the other hand, I didn't much care for the band he had with Terry Gibbs (though the players were fine) because it pushed Buddy into a neo-Benny Goodman role.

Posted

At the end of January 2005, Buddy DeFranco will come to play in Tel-Aviv. Of course I would like to see him because Mr. DeFranco is one of the great clarinetists of all time. But I am still debating. The reason is that Buddy DeFranco is almost 82 and I am not sure how his playing level is in this age. If one of you had the honor to listen to Buddy DeFranco recently, Please let me know your impressions.

I've seen Buddy a few times and as recently as September and I feels his playing is still very good; one of the all time greats on clarinet. I wouldn't miss it!

Mark

Posted

No disrespect intended to DeFranco (I'm a fan) or to Tel-Aviv (I'm Jewish), but there's something about the rhythm/sound combo of the phrase "Buddy DeFranco is coming to Tel-Aviv" that just cracked me up.

Does he see you when you're sleeping?

Posted

"Does he see you when you're sleeping?"

That's along the line of what struck me as funny, but I might have been thinking of an ad for (or the title of) a '50s William Castle horror movie or the rhythm and sound of an ad that used to be on Chicago radio all the time in the '60s -- "Sunday, Sunday, Sunday ... at U.S. 30 Dragstrip" etc.

Posted

...the rhythm and sound of an ad that used to be on Chicago radio all the time in the '60s -- "Sunday, Sunday, Sunday ... at U.S. 30 Dragstrip" etc.

It wasn't just Chicago.

In Dallas, it was Green Valley Raceway.

"Green Valley"...sounds like a cemetary of sorts, no?

Posted

...the rhythm and sound of an ad that used to be on Chicago radio all the time in the '60s -- "Sunday, Sunday, Sunday ... at U.S. 30 Dragstrip" etc.

It wasn't just Chicago.

In Dallas, it was Green Valley Raceway.

"Green Valley"...sounds like a cemetary of sorts, no?

It was in the New York Metropolitan area ... Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey, if I recall.

Posted

I saw DeFranco in NY City in June, and in spite of the fact that I knew next to nothing about him and was there to see other performers in the band, he blew me away with his performance and the apparent ease with which he plays. I thought he played at least as well or (frankly) better than the much younger Ken Peplowski, another clarinetist whose music I enjoy. In fact, I was just shopping on Amazon.com, looking for some good DeFranco CDs to buy.

Posted

I thought he played at least as well or (frankly) better than the much younger Ken Peplowski, another clarinetist whose music I enjoy

On his deathbed Buddy will play better than Kenny P on a great day. I guess I should say IMOP. B-)

Posted

  In fact, I was just shopping on Amazon.com, looking for some good DeFranco CDs to buy.

You can start with this:

f41779orp6x.jpg

Then pick up the Norgran quartet sides with Sonny Clark.

You can find them on the long OOP Mosaic set or as Japanese reissues.

Don

Posted

I thought he played at least as well or (frankly) better than the much younger Ken Peplowski, another clarinetist whose music I enjoy

On his deathbed Buddy will play better than Kenny P on a great day. I guess I should say IMOP. B-)

:tup:tup:tup:tup:tup:tup ad infinitum ....

The man has a very ugly portrait of himself in his attic .... but having sold his soul to the devil he is every bit as good as he was fifty years ago ... but I do agree, the quality of the rhythm section can often push him into more of a "swing-Goodman" mode, while a bop-oriented section will cause you to hear some of the most harmonically advanced bop you have ever experienced. DeFranco has always been my God! Of course, all of this is IMHO ....

<----------- see my avatar!

Garth.

Posted

Don Nania (& others)--coincidentally, I just ordered Mr. Clarinet. I hope I ordered the better version--there's an import called Complete Mr. Clarinet, on the Jazz Factory label, containing:

1. Ferdinando

2. It Could Happen to You

3. Autumn in New York

4. Bass on Balls

5. Left Field

6. Show Eyes

7. But Not for Me

8. Buddy's Blues

9. Things We Did Last Summer

10. When Your Lover Has Gone

and then there's the orginal recording remastered with "special packaging" on the Universal label, including:

1. Buddy's Blues

2. Ferdinando

3. It Could Happen to You

4. Autumn in New York

5. Left Field

6. Show Eyes

7. But Not for Me

8. Bass on Balls

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