Famous Jazz Clarinet Greats...and Their Clarinets

Got an interesting questions from Danny today, and it took me deep into the rabbit hole.

Danny writes: 

I'm a jazz clarinetist living in Chicago. I've recently gotten interested in what makes and models of clarinet the giants of jazz clarinet played, artists like -- Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Buddy DeFranco, Barney Bigard, Eddie Daniels and others.

Do you have access to that info? I've been playing Buffet R13s all my life.

Great question! And one that took some digging and asking around and verifying. Google is helpful, of course, but only to a point. The documentation is spotty, manufacturers' records are incomplete, and half the time the only way to know for sure is to look at old photos and squint at the keywork. So, I did, and here's what I found — but I know you guys are often geekier than me, so make any corrections to this in the comments please!

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Swing Era 

Benny Goodman

Goodman went through phases. During his rise in the 1930s, he played Selmer Balanced Tone clarinets (starting around 1935). When Selmer introduced the Centered Tone in the early 1950s—with its larger tone holes and that warm, projecting sound—he switched to that. The Centered Tone became so associated with Goodman that it's still called "the Benny Goodman clarinet" in some circles.

Later in his career, though, Goodman moved to Buffet Crampon. His 1970 Buffet is at the Carnegie Hall Rose Museum, donated by his daughter Rachel in 1988—it inspired the museum's creation. A separate Goodman clarinet is at the Smithsonian, donated in 1990 by both daughters along with his music stand and practice chair.

Artie Shaw

Shaw was particular about his horns. With his big band, he played Selmer Balanced Tone clarinets—large bore, 6-ring "symphony" model with articulated G#. He also briefly used a Conn 444N. When he formed the Gramercy Five in the early 1950s, he switched to Buffet.

The Smithsonian has two of Shaw's clarinets: a 1938 Buffet-Crampon (serial #22457) that he used to record "Begin the Beguine," and a 1945 Selmer (serial #M6727). Shaw donated them himself in 2003, when he was 93.

One quirk: Shaw reportedly removed the left-hand sliver key on the upper joint of his horns and plugged the hole because it "got in the way." 

Woody Herman

Herman led some of the most important big bands of the era—the "Herds"—and premiered Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto. But he was as much a vocalist and bandleader as a clarinetist, and documentation on his instruments is frustratingly sparse. I couldn't nail down his gear with any certainty. If you have solid info, let me know in the comments.

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New Orleans

Barney Bigard

Here's where it gets interesting. Bigard played Albert system—not Boehm like most of his contemporaries. The Albert system was standard in New Orleans when he learned, and he never switched.

His early horn was a Henri Farney (manufactured in France, sold through Wurlitzer), which he used when he joined Duke Ellington in 1927. That clarinet is now at the Smithsonian. Around 1940, he switched to a Selmer Albert system—you can see him playing it with Louis Armstrong's All-Stars in the 1951 film The Strip.

 

Pete Fountain

Fountain was a Leblanc guy through and through. He started on the Leblanc Dynamic H—a large-bore (15mm) horn that you can see him playing on the Lawrence Welk Show.

After he became a star, Leblanc built him a signature model: large bore, six rings, articulated G#, gold-plated keys. The Pete Fountain model (also called the "Big Easy," model L1612) was marketed as a serious professional horn—not just a celebrity endorsement piece. It's now discontinued following Leblanc's acquisition by Conn-Selmer, though you can easily find these on Reverb or eBay. 

Fountain also used crystal mouthpieces, which was kind of unusual for American players at the time but common among European clarinetists. 

Doreen Ketchens

Ketchens—nicknamed "Lady Louis" for her Armstrong-inspired high-note power—is the current queen of New Orleans street jazz. You can find her on Royal Street in the French Quarter most weekends with her band, Doreen's Jazz New Orleans.

Classically trained at NOCCA and the Hartt School, she learned jazz the hard way: on the streets, getting "battered and bruised by jazz clarinetists and saxophonists," as she puts it. She grew up on Buffets, but now plays a Royal Global Firebird—kind of appropriate since she plays on Royal Street in NOLA.

Buddy DeFranco

DeFranco had a Leblanc endorsement early in his career, but for his last umpteen years he was a Yamaha artist. He helped develop their professional clarinet line and was one of their most visible endorsers.

Eddie Daniels

Daniels played Buffet R13 for years before becoming a Backun artist. He now plays Backun MoBa clarinets—cocobolo, because Eddie doesn't know a syrupy sound he doesn't love. Honestly, Eddie's sound is what convinced me (in the 1980s) that jazz clarinet playing worked even better with a "classical" (-esque) sound. 

Paquito D'Rivera

Paquito has played everything. His father imported a plateau clarinet (covered holes) from Paris when Paquito's fingers were too skinny for open holes. Then came a Selmer Centered Tone from 1957—full Boehm, 7 rings, articulated G#. That horn is now at the Smithsonian.

He discovered Luis Rossi clarinets through the Caracas Clarinet Quartet and asked Rossi to build him a custom full Boehm with 7 rings and articulated G#. Direct quote from his masterclass: "They're addictive—I have five!" 

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The Pattern

A few things stand out looking at this list:

Selmer dominated the swing era. The Balanced Tone and Centered Tone were the professional standard for jazz clarinet from the mid-1930s through the 1950s. Large bore, large tone holes, big sound. Not surprising, since they were really the dominant clarinet manufacturer of the time. 

The market has fragmented. Unlike the Selmer monoculture of the swing era, today's jazz clarinetists are spread across multiple brands. Buffet R13 remains popular (Peplowski, Cohen), but you've got Eddie Daniels on Backun MoBa, Paquito on Luis Rossi, Doreen Ketchens on Royal Global Firebird, and DeFranco spent his last 40 years on Yamaha. There's no single "jazz clarinet" anymore—players are finding instruments that fit their sound rather than defaulting to one standard.

The New Orleans players were different. Bigard on Albert system, Fountain on large-bore Leblanc, Ketchens on the Royal Global—these players have chased that open, fat sound to cut through brass-heavy ensembles, and they've been willing to go outside the mainstream to get it.

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Where to See These Instruments

Several of the actual horns mentioned above are in museum collections:

• Carnegie Hall Rose Museum: Benny Goodman's 1970 Buffet Crampon (the clarinet that inspired the museum's creation)
• Smithsonian National Museum of American History: A Benny Goodman clarinet (with stand and chair), Artie Shaw's 1938 Buffet and 1945 Selmer, Barney Bigard's Henri Farney Albert system, Paquito D'Rivera's 1957 Selmer Centered Tone
• Metropolitan Museum of Art: Selmer Mazzeo model clarinet
• Library of Congress: Historical photos of Pete Fountain and others

Like I said, please correct me. (But, you know, maybe make sure you can verify your corrections — there are a lot of "I heard so-and-so say that he saw XYZ playing a..." stories out there.)

Mike