Earshot Jazz - April 2003

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Buddy DeFranco: No Substitute BY KEITH RAETHER Buddy DeFranco, who brought the vernacular of bebop to the clarinet, celebrated his 80th birthday on February 17. He will mark it again April 25-26 when the University of Montana presents the annual Buddy DeFranco Jazz Festival in Missoula, Montana. Joining DeFranco for the party are saxophonist James Moody (who celebrated his 78th birthday in March); drummer Butch Miles, a 30-year veteran of the Count Basie Orchestra; trombonist Bill Watrous, leader of his own big band, Manhattan Wildlife Refuge; French clarinetist and DeFranco biographer Fabrice Zammarchi; and guitarist Joe Cohn, son of the late saxophonist Al Cohn. DeFranco, who divides his time between Whitefish, Montana, and Panama City, Florida, recently spoke to Earshot Jazz about his life in jazz and opinions about the music. Earshot: Your musical career is usually linked to Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey and Terry Gibbs. Seldom mentioned is the fact that you played with Count Basie; toured with Billie Holiday; led a group that included Art Blakey, Kenny Drew or Sonny Clark, and Eugene Wright; and worked with Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson and even Thelonious Monk! Buddy DeFranco: For two years (1951-52) I was the only white guy in my own group. I’ve always had blinders. I’ve never cared who or what color a musician is. If a guy plays, he plays. It’s all about the music. I suppose everyone gets pigeonholed in one way or another. The fact remains that, without the black experience and black musicians, we would not have jazz, period. Earshot: Joachim Berendt observed that, after the arrival of bebop, you came to represent the Charlie Parker of the clarinet. He cited two reasons: your technical command and your modern approach to the instrument. BD: The difference is that Charlie Parker was an innovator who changed the entire complexion of jazz from his point forward. We all live in Parker’s shadow. Even the youngest players today are offshoots of Bird. What’s tragic is that many young players assume what they’re doing is original. There really hasn’t been an original player since perhaps John Coltrane. I’ve tried to align 6 • Earshot Jazz • April 2003 myself with players who are identifiable — players who, when you hear them, you know who they are. Earshot: Given your indebtedness to Parker, is it fair to say that he was your guide, your way into a modernist conception of the music? BD: No question about it. Before that, I had other influences, of course. My lineage includes Johnny Mince, Goodman, Shaw and, above all, Tatum. But Parker was the one who changed my thinking, who inspired a radically new slant and sense of swing. Earshot: The technical facility that became part of your signature led some critics to call your playing “cold” and “calculated.” The same has been said of Peterson and Tatum… BD: There’s a school of thought in jazz that says technique may get in the way of photo by Teresa Tamura playing the music — of improvising. There’s the old joke about the bandleader who asks the tenor player if he can read music, and the tenor player replies, “Not enough to hurt my playing.” Another school of thought is that if you have a good supply of technique you can say what you want to say with ease. The camp that believes technique is a hindrance would call someone who has it “cold” or “glib.” By the same token, the camp with abundant technique considers players who don’t have it as “amateurish.” That’s not to say both camps aren’t playing jazz. They are. My personal opinion is that you have to have technique in order to express your voice. Earshot: You’ve long favored small ensembles, and yet you directed the Glenn Miller Orchestra for several years. BD: I favored small groups because of economics. I had a big band in the early ’50s, which was unfortunate because big bands
soon started to fade from the picture. Nobody really knows the success formula for a big band. I developed a deep appreciation for what the original Miller band did. Earshot: You spent your formative years in big bands — Gene Krupa, Charlie Barnet, Boyd Raeburn and Dorsey. Was their value chiefly to find and hone your voice? BD: There are certain confines in bigband playing, but there’s also opportunity to develop. If you have a sensitive leader who will let you play your way within the context of the band, then it’s a learning experience and a development experience. Big bands teach you discipline, which is a great tool for giving form to improvisation. Earshot: Your father, Leonard DeFranco, was piano tuner. Remarkably, he was also blind. BD: In fact, he attended an institution for the blind specifically to study piano tuning. He was amazing. He could take a piano apart and put it back together. He also played mandolin, which was my first instrument. Earshot: What drew you to the clarinet? BD: Circumstances mostly. I wanted to play saxophone. My dad knew a lot of musicians, of course. They suggested I play clarinet first, so that the saxophone would come easier. All the reed players in a big band had to double, so it seemed wiser to start on clarinet. I did, and doubled on alto sax. Earshot: You’ve said, in no uncertain terms, that American popular music is in a state of decay. I think your exact word was “putrefaction.” BD: That’s true. It goes along with the dumbing down of America in general. It comes and goes in waves, like the current decline of our educational system. Music reflects society and the aesthetic tastes of the time. Things will get better. A warning light will go on, and people will step up to make the situation better. Earshot: The clarinet has clearly found a place in improvised music other than jazz. BD: It has, though that’s not new. All of the old klezmer musicians played ad lib. In fact, klezmer clarinet playing has always been more ad lib than not. It’s an interesting use of the instrument, though it doesn’t have much to do with jazz. It lacks essential components that we associate with jazz. See DeFranco, page 14 HADLEY CALIMAN AND FRIENDS: A FAREWELL TRIBUTE Legendary Jazz Saxophonist Hadley Caliman; D'Vonne Lewis, drums; Dawn Clement, piano; Chuck Deardorf, bass SATURDAY, APRIL 12TH AT 8 PM PONCHO CONCERT HALL, KERRY HALL, 710 EAST ROY STREET, SEATTLE Hadley Caliman will retire from Cornish College this spring after 20 years of teaching. Please join us in celebration of his music. Tickets: $12 general; $6 for students and seniors. Tickets can be purchased through Ticket Window by phone at 206.325.6500 or online at www.ticketwindowonline.com April 2003 • Earshot Jazz • 7
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Page 3 and 4: Hadley Caliman Farewell Performance
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Page 13 and 14: Recurring Weekly Performances Monda
Page 15 and 16: A $35 basic membership in Earshot b

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