The Clarinet, Benny Goodman and Me!

THIS IS BENNY GOODMAN!

Benny Goodman was born on May 30, 1909 and passed away on June 13, 1986. In between, he gave us many years of great big band music, the kind only the King of Swing could play! These were two of my favorite albums back when vinyl was the main way you could listen to recorded music. 

MY INSTRUMENTAL SIDE!

I love music but I am not very talented when it comes to playing an instrument.

However, I taught myself to play the clarinet many years ago with the help of a book manual on how to play the clarinet and trying to follow recordings by Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman and the Original Dixieland Jazz Band at a time when there were no video tutorials and the internet was non-existent. Today it's a lot easier to learn the right way to play the instrument by following step-by-step coaching in the many pages and videos devoted to teaching the basics to mastering the clarinet.

I am still learning the darn thing and can actually play a few pieces of music at a very basic beginner's level. Anyway, good or bad, I've found playing a musical instrument is a very nice occupational therapy.

Playing the guitar never appealed to me but I faked it on a recent trip to the NBC Studios Tour in NYC.

I did play the clarinet on stage on a music show many years ago. The audience was very kind and actually applauded my rendering of AS TIME GOES BY and ST. LOUIS BLUES with a piano accompanist.

I once tried learning to play the piano, back in my preschool days but my lack of talent in that endeavor was appalling. Nevertheless, I sat at the piano at an art exhibit in Manhattan just for show.

At first glance, this appears to be a picture of me playing the accordion. In actuality, it is a photoshopped image of Lawrence Welk with my face pasted on.

These however, are real photos of me back in first grade when I took accordion classes from Miss Ann Pertack Raush who was the school's accordion teacher. As a soloist, I played IN THE MOOD at a school festival. The highlight of my accordion year was a performance with the complete Modern American School Accordion Band at the Manuel M. Ponce Hall of Mexico City's Palace of Fine Arts. I have no recollection whatsoever of what we played at that concert.

THE RETURN OF THE CLARINET!

After more than 30 years of having abandoned it, I finally got another chance to play the clarinet thanks to a much welcome recent birthday gift.  But of course, it has been so long, I have to remember how to play the instrument, so I'm back to my beginner's days and dusting off those old clarinet courses, charts and tutorials. I'm back to square one with embouchure, fingering, tone and reed control.

Will I ever attain professional status?  Of course not! Will I become the next Benny Goodman? Never! 

But the point here is to just have fun and play to myself trying not to squeak much and flub as less as possible.  Music, maestro, please!

My first year trying to get some decent sound out of the instrument!

After much practice, I was proficient enough to get a gig on stage at a small dinner theater, playing

 "As Time Goes By" and "St. Louis Blues" in a musical show!

The day I got my new clarinet, 30 plus years after I had abandoned the instrument.

Back to the Clarinet Player Starter Kit!

Hopefully, this won't ever happen...but you never can tell!

Remembering BENNY GOODMAN on his birthday.

BENNY GOODMAN was born May 30, 1909. 

In celebration of his birthday, from the 1948 film A SONG IS BORN, here's a great rendition of "Stealing Apples". Starring Danny Kaye and Virgina Mayo, the film also features some swing greats like Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey, Charlie Barnet, Lionel Hampton on the vibes, and many others! 

STEALIN' APPLES

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS:

As 2021 slowly but surely steps in, and in the aftermath of the sad and shameful events that transpired on January 6th at Capitol Hill, I feel the need to review some of the things that, for me, make life worth living. These favorite things still bring a smile to my face and give me a sense that, in spite of all the idiocy and brutality in the world, there will always be a reason to be thankful and keep my hopes high!

Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy

Buster Keaton

 

Harold Lloyd

Sean Connery

Cary Grant

Frank Sinatra

Marilyn Monroe

Steve McQueen

Barbara Feldon & Don Adams in GET SMART

Benny Goodman                                            THE PINK PANTHER

 

HUCKLEBERRY HOUND and YOGI BEAR

Mort Drucker

The first 40 years of MAD Magazine

My Hohner Student Accordion years.

These vintage ads reminded me of my two years in grade school where I took accordion lessons and played with the Modern American School accordion band under the leadership of my music teacher, Miss Anne Pertack.  The highlight of that experience was a performance at a concert hall inside the Palace Of Fine Arts In Mexico City.

I never pictured myself as the Mexican Lawrence Welk although I have to admit I enjoyed The Lawrence Welk Show quite a lot, in a guilty pleasure kind of way.

                          

These ads promise hours of joy and pleasure and claim accordions are IN, which of course, 

were slight exaggerations. All I can say is that an accordion, played by a talented musician, makes delightful and very happy music.

My accordion was the Hohner Student VII and it was sold for a paltry amount when my mom died, in 2009.

But I still remember with nostalgia those boring hours practicing the instrument in the full knowledge I would never become a skilled musician.

Years later, I took up the clarinet and learned to play it with some proficiency. I even got to play it on an episode of a local TV sitcom and on a nightclub show. 

After that, I wisely left the music in the talented hands of professional musicians like Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw.  My real passion is listening to music, not playing it.

BENNY GOODMAN remembered!

                    We lost Benny Goodman on June 13, 1986! However, his music is still very much around us!

Benny Goodman and his Orchestra playing BUGLE CALL RAG:

                                            

ARTIE SHAW and BENNY GOODMAN, the Great Clarinet Players.

I've always been a big fan of Big Band Swing music which I've been listening to since my early childhood. My parents had a good sized collection of old 78 RPM shellac records which I continually played on an old Motorola player and later, on a Garrard turntable. The music of Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw and several other big band leaders, was a staple of their collection.

Later on, I managed to get hold of a second-hand clarinet and taught myself how to play the instrument, aided by Paul Harvey's THE COMPLETE CLARINET PLAYER Omnibus Edition from 1986 and A. Magnani's Complete Method for Clarinet in Two Books. Since there were no YouTube tutorials back then, and I didn't have the time to take lessons from a qualified music teacher, the learning process was quite slow and lengthy.

Of course, no virtuosity was achieved but after much practice, I managed to play it with limited proficiency, enough to carry me by when I had to perform in public for a musical play.

I don't remember the name of the show but I do recall I had two solo numbers with a piano accompanist: As Time Goes By and St. Louis Blues.

My clarinet kit.

The clarinet is no longer functional for lack of proper maintenance; however, I still keep it for nostalgic reasons and am planning to buy me a new one someday soon. Playing the clarinet along with Goodman and Shaw's recordings used to be a very pleasant pastime years ago and I hope I can indulge myself once more.

 

Artie Shaw was born May 23, 1910 and died December 30, 2004 at the age of 94.

Benny Goodman was born May 30, 1909 and died June 13, 1986 at the age of 77.

May 30th...A Significant Date!

Okay, so May 30th might seem to be just like any other day for everyone, but to me it's significant for two very special reasons: one is because, according to the Catholic Calendar, today is my Name Day, and the other more relevant one, it's Benny Goodman's birthday.
King Fernando III, King of Castile, died on May 30, 1252, and was the son of Rodrigo Diaz, better known as El Cid. He was known as "the Saint" during his lifetime.
Benny Goodman, on the other hand, was no saint but his music was the most swinging this side of heaven. He was born on May 30, 1909 and was known as the "King of Swing".  His career spanned more than 60 years, remaining active until 1986. His records consistently made the best seller lists during the 30s and 40s and his Concert at Carnegie Hall in 1938 became legendary.
So, today I remember King Fernando III and the King of Swing, Benny Goodman!