In fairness to Vtvu's recommendation, I must say that for whatever it is worth Stolzman has accomplished the seemingly impossible. He has gained name recogniton as a soloist on an instrument that, as far as woodwinds go, is not nearly as popular as the saxophone or the flute. He does have a certain charm about him on stage that appeals to many, and his playing can also at times have that charm. He is considered by players something of a rebel. He does some unorthodox things such as the use of vibrato in some music where traditionally the clarinet does not do that. To me there is a hard to describe "throw caution to the wind" kind of attitude that I personally find refreshing at times but that drives most players I know absolutely nuts. My favorite recording of his is "Quartet For The End Of Time" by Messiaen. Hitsbbop, Eddie Daniels is one of the most incredible virtuosos on the instrument although I find his jazz work, particularly his crossover stuff, much more convincing than his classical work. Most don't realize that he is just as accomplished on the saxophone and the flute. An amazing feat. My favorite recordings of his are his very first; a duo recording with guitarist Bucky Pizzareli and "Breakthrough" and also his work with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis big band (on tenor sax) from the '70's. I had the good fortune of being able to hear Stanley Drucker play the Copland concerto five times during the NY Philharmonic's Asia tour. Every single performance was different from the previous; and in a good way. That should lay to rest the naive idea that classical artists are simply reading notes and lack spontenaity. Cheers.
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- 8 posts total
- 8 posts total