Nights at the Turntable June 2016

TWO VERY DISTINCTIVE MUSICIANS One of the main goals of every jazz musician, no matter what their style, is that they develop their own recognizable voice. Each musician strives to sound like his or herself rather than a pale copy of their musical heroes. The most successful ones can be identified within a few notes. Certainly Edmond Hall and Sidney Bechet achieved that goal. Clarinetist Edmond Hall (1901-67) had a distinctive tone that was so passionate that he could easily cut through a large ensemble. While he played with Buddy Petit’s band in New Orleans as early as 1921 and made his first recording (on soprano) with Alonzo Ross’ De Luxe Syncopators in 1927, it would take him another decade before he had his own sound. Hall was a member of the Claude Hopkins Orchestra for five years but was featured more on baritone and alto than he was on clarinet. It was not until 1937 on two recording date with trumpeter Frankie Newton that his clarinet playing was really heard for the first time. While Profoundly Blue 1937-1944 from the Retrospective label does not have any of the Newton performances, it does an excellent job of summing up an important seven-year period in Edmond Hall’s career. The clarinetist takes a solo on “Me, Myself, and I” from an early Billie Holiday session, is one of the stars on dates with Lionel Hampton, Henry “Red” Allen, and Zutty Singleton, a