[Dixielandjazz] Tony Parenti (wasMexican, Sicilian and Creole Reedmen and others) clarinet solo

[Bill Haesler]

> Probably not  a Cajun - they tended to be of French origin, with a few 
> very rare exceptions...

Dear Dan and Dave,
Tony Parenti's biography by meticulous English researcher Derek Celler 
(2003. Jazzology Press) quotes Tony Parenti as saying "I was born in 
New Orleans on August 6th 1900 [what a coincidence! Today's date!] at 
Dauphine and St Ann Streets, in the French Quarter. Both of my parents 
had come from Sicily; my father had served in the Italian "Peasant 
Army" where he played, but was not a bandmaster, as some have said."
Derek Coller draws attention to a comment by Tulane historian Larry 
Powell in a presentation on the birth of jazz that "...a third of early 
jazzmen were Italian."
Tony Parenti's first instrument was a violin. He then studied under 
Professor Joseph Taverno, a graduate of Milan Conservatory.
There is a lot more about the Professor's 'Italian' band. And a lot 
more about the Italian jazz musicians Parenti grew up with.
Also some comments on Richard Sudhalter's theory of the possibility of 
"a Sicilian stream of hot clarinet playing" which well-known 
clarinetist Joe Muranyi doubts and  had "never noticed such a thing."
Recommended. A good read.
Kind regards,
Bill.