[Dixielandjazz] Bechet's vibrato

[David Richoux]

There is a "Post-Modern Jazz" reed player who has revived the  
Taragoto as an instrument of destruction and terror:
Peter Brötzmann. He has recorded many lengthy solos on that  
instrument - I can sort of  hear the difference between it and a  
clarinet, but the way he plays, it is not that important ;-)

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=385 here is a snip:

> In typical marathon style, Brotzmann opened on tenor and moved to  
> the sinewy high-pitched taragato with a lengthy dissertation of  
> flooding proportions. He showed enormous stamina in spewing out  
> wave after wave of impulses. The music appeared as a huge boulder  
> rolling downhill at unstoppable speed as Drake set into motion his  
> power drumming and Parker relentlessly stroked his bass. For over  
> 35 minutes, the three were an incendiary fuse of explosive creativity.
>

Dave Richoux (who only likes the soprano sax on rare occasions, but  
has a higher regard for a good fiddle player or two.)

On Sep 19, 2007, at 4:45 PM, Bill Haesler wrote:

>> I don't know if it's true but I heard several American jazz people  
>> say
>> that Bechet's vibrato reminded them to the sound of the "tarogato"  
>> which
>> is a clarinet-like instrument that was, I think, only used in  
>> Hungarian
>> folk music, then in Hungarian Gypsy music.
>
> Dear Tamas.
> Peter Strohkorb, a German [from Berlin] clarinet/sop sax-playing  
> friend and  ex-band colleague, who migrated to Sydney, Australia in  
> the early 1980s has/had a taragato.
> He bought it new (as I recall) in Germany many years ago on one of  
> his return visits.
> My dear friend Peter, like most early post-war European jazz reed  
> players, was very much influenced by Sidney Bechet who he had met  
> and played with on several occasions.
> His taragato was a fine instrument and I certainly preferred it to  
> the sound of his more forceful sop sax (Bechet-style) playing.
> Peter now lives and plays in Noosa, Queensland (km/miles north of  
> Sydney) so I do not see him often enough.
> Whether Bechet owned one, I do not know, but Peter probably does.
> I will telephone him.
> Kind regards,
> Bill (who doesn't care much for soprano sax or violins).
>
>