[Dixielandjazz] Amplification and Kenny Davern

[Russ Guarino]

It seems lately that almost every band I hear is playing way too loud.
Painfully loud.  I yell a question to neighbors  "how do you like the band"?
and they inevitably say "Its got a lot of energy".  Not for me.  I like to
hear music, not cacophony.

Russ Guarino

Stephen Barbone wrote:

> Listmates:
>
> Well, a few words about Kenny Davern. He can blow louder than any
> clarinet player in the world. Indeed, he can blow louder than a lot of
> trumpet or trombone players. How did that come about?
>
> Well, his authoritarian teacher when he was a young teenager had him
> drill on those long tones. Then he put him in a coat closet full of
> coats and said: "Kenneth you have to be able to hear yourself in here.
> Don't come out until you can." Naturally the coats absorbed a lot of his
> sound, but after a few months of this drill, Kenny's volume was such
> that he can fill all but the very largest rooms, easily, without
> amplification. Ask him about it if any of you talk with him. It is a
> funny story the way he tells it.
>
> Most of the other clarinetists in the world cannot do this. They can't
> even come close. His advice to me when I was 16 and he heard me playing
> in a jazz club?  "Blow louder kid." (He was a year younger)
>
> Kenny loves to make this talent known by not amplifying the band.
> However, make no mistake, he does play with amplified players. Case in
> point. Before he went to New Mexico, he had a steady gig at the
> Forrestal Hotel in Princeton NJ. He was there every Saturday night
> whenever he was in town. I would go there when not gigging and watch him
> play with Joe Gibilisco on amplified (ever so slightly) bass, and Al Rae
> on amplified piano. It was an acoustically dead room. I subbed for him
> there a few times when he was on tour, without amplification, except in
> the low register and I have to tell you, it was a struggle for me to
> fill the room.
>
> The last time I saw him play was about 2 years ago, with amplified bass
> and amplified piano, rest of the Dixieland Band was un amplified. He,
> however, used the mike only for announcements. I play that same room
> twice a year and we work it the same way. Amplified Guitar, amplified
> Bass, everybody else acoustic.
>
> Like anything else, there are no concrete "rules" on amplification or
> reinforcement either. The trick is to get the proper band balance and
> that is up to the band leader. Our bassist and guitarist put their amps
> behind them so they can easily hear it when they are too loud.
>
> Except that both are going deaf, which leaves it up to me to balance
> things out. ;-)
>
> Yeah, we've had a few words about "play softer" but as pros, they agree
> that it's up to me to get the proper band sound.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
>
> PS. We've all experienced the vagaries of too loud or two soft. Heck, at
> every gig we do, some come up and say its too loud and an equal number
> come up and say they can't hear us. Musical content? "What's New?"
>
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