[Dixielandjazz] Two horn ensemble

[Russ Guarino]

The majority of my casuals are done as a quartet, with Clarinet, Bass Sax, Banjo
[ or keyboard or guitar ] and drums.

I have a strong, clear, robust clarinet tone, so, the lead is played by the
clarinet with follow up solos by the bass sax and then  the chordal instrument [
guitar, banjo or keyboard ], with the last chorus played by the clarinet.
Sometimes we will have a vocal as the second or third chorus.

The key  is the chordal instrument. Without the chordal instrument, the band
absolutely doesn't work. The  bass sax does the bass line and solos. Our Bass
Sax guy is superb, both bass line and solos. The clarinet does the role of the
lead horn since there is no cornet in our band.

Of course, the drum does the drum thing, and a good drummer can really add a lot
to the tune, both doing background rhythm as well as solos, accents and endings.

Seems to work well.

We have developed into a foursome as a result of the pressure to keep our price
low.  When the customer can afford a higher price, we then add the cornet,
T-bone and have both banjo and keyboard. At that point we have a real Dixieland
sound and "knock 'em out".

Russ Guarino
Lighthouse Jazz Band



Ministry of Jazz wrote:

> Ken,
>
> A typical line up for my Doctor Jazz band in Israel, when we are not playing
> with all 5 players, is me doubling on trumpet, tuba and vocals, a banjo for
> rhythm and chords, a washboard or other light percussion, and the second
> horn player is either on clarinet or trombone. So we have learned to
> compensate for the tuba dropping in and out when I sing or play trumpet, and
> when on trumpet, the dialog with the second horn is an adventure. We try to
> avoid long solos on any one instrument. Instead, we'll give breaks to the
> various players to give them a chance to show off a little, or we'll trade
> 4's or 8's between the 2 lead horns, or actually that works between any 2 of
> the instruments. We've done some nice dialogs between trumpet or tuba and
> washboard. When not singing, we make the effort to keep the ensemble going
> as much as possible. Listening to one another is the key to playing
> successfully off one another. To tell you the truth, I am not sure what we
> do to compensate when the tuba drops out, for example. All I know is that we
> have learned to do it so it doesn't leave a hole. The other players get
> quieter, and usually I follow tuba with a vocal, and then something on
> trumpet. We just make sure there is enough going on at any given time that
> the music doesn't sound empty.
>
> Good luck,
>
> Elazar
> Dr. Jazz Dixieland Band
> Tekiya Trumpet Ensemble
> Jerusalem, Israel
> www.israel.net/ministry-of-jazz
> +972-2-679-2537
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ken Gates [mailto:kwg28 at sbcglobal.net]
> Sent: Friday, September 15, 2006 7:30 PM
> To: Dixieland Jazz
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Two horn ensemble
>
> In a two horn front line, ensemble passages take a different form----looking
> to see if you experienced musicians think I'm on the right track----------
>
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