[Dixielandjazz] Ted Lewis and the "gaspipe"

[Steve barbone]

To add to the fine post by Bill Haesler about "gaspipe clarinet".


Note #69, page 778-779, "Lost Chords" - Richard Sudhalter Oxford University
Press - 1999.

69. "Lewis's reputation has taken something of a pounding at the hands of
jazz fans and critics, due in equal measure to his vaudevillian antics and
his truly dreadful "gaspipe" clarinet playing. But another, surely more
balanced, view comes from trombonist George Brunis, who in 1958 emphatically
reminder an interviewer that Lewis "was a great showman; he gave me a great
schooling for talking to an audience" (June 3, 1958, Hogan Archive). Lewis
paid both Brunis and Spanier well, even in the darkest days of the
Depression, and gave them plenty of chances to solo. Spanier's choruses on
such Lewis records as "Dinah" and "Headin For Better Times" number among his
finest. Lewis also employed Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey, and, for two
memorable record titles in mid 1929, Frank Teschemacher."
--- end note

On the other hand, I think it was Eddie Condon who said something like; "Ted
Lewis makes his clarinet talk. It says 'put me back in the case'."

And then, from another biographer: "Lewis himself played clarinet in what
was often referred to as "gaspipe" style, overblowing and creating a shrill
tone that was very useful on novelty tunes but frowned on by most players in
most settings (though as Rob Bamberger points out in his excellent essay on
Lewis, the fingering and control involved in effective "gaspipe" clarinet
was just as daunting as any more standard approach to the instrument).

If one googles for "Gaspipe Clarinet" (yes, put the quotes in) one will find
all sorts of other information about the style.

To some degree, players such as Pee Wee Russell and Tony Scott used part of
the basic approach to "gaspipe", modifying and refining it to suit their
communicative skill and technical ability.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone