The other day I noticed on the web a page marked 'The Clarinet in Jazz Since 1945'. The list which followed was as such :Alvin Batiste, Don Byron, John Carter, Eddie Daniels, Kenny Davern, Buddy DeFranco, Eric Dolphy, Marty Ehrlich, Jimmy Giuffre, Jimmy Hamilton, Gunter Hampel, Rolf Kuehn, John LaPorta Joe Maneri, David Murray, Perry Robinson, Pee Wee Russell, Louis Sclavis, Tony Scott, Artie Shaw and Bill Smith.

Being a clarinet player myself I was interested to see who 'they' thought were the important players worth noting on their site. At the same time one has too ask who is carrying the torch nowadays when it comes to this instrument. After all Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw were in their time big household names, so who has that kind of influence nowadays? Although I have much respect for the likes of Buddy DeFranco or Jimmy Hamilton, I think that the potential clarinettist today may not really find anything that would inspire and influence them in taking up this instrument. When hearing people talk about Monk, Coltrane, Miles, Wes, Bill Evans or Herbie, as well as other names such as the Hawk, Elvin, Pres, Brecker, Sanborn Mingus, Metheny or Ornette. Lists containing names which have inspired people to play jazz. Many of these figures have become mythical and it is partly the stories surrounding them that give them such a strong power to inspire. Apart from Eric Dolphy I cannot really say that many clarinettists feature in these lists. Such names have inspired many a young person to rush out and buy a drum kit or a saxophone so why is it that the clarinet has had so few takers in the last twenty years? One friend of mine, a fine piano player and renown teacher remarked that 'If Coltrane had recorded A Love Supreme on the clarinet, then maybe things would be different!'

So where did we go wrong? We don't have any David Sanborns or Candy Dulfers, not that I've noticed. Nor do we have an articulate Branford Marsalis or Joshua Redman to speak up for us. Although not a fashion icon Jimmy Giuffre is maybe the major influence on the new generation of jazz players. After his 60s recordings leading up to Free Fall it seems as though many people found such an abstract form of improvisation difficult to understand, let alone see it's potential. It also meant that his trio couldn't survive financially either, only today have people really started to understand how far ahead of his time his music was.Maybe Free Fall has had a stronger impact on the clarinet world than Coltrane's Love Supreme!! When listening to the new line of clarinet players we can hear how the Giuffre influence has spread into the playing of most players. Michael Moore - Chicoutimi or Bering. Ken Vandermark - Furnace or Ben Goldberg's - What Came Before with John Schott and Michael Sarin (just a few examples). Unfortunately many of these players are not really playing a commercial music, even if respected on a musical level their influence remains fairly limited.

Luckily with the rise in popularity of Klezmer - and various world music styles - there are many models new and old that are keeping the clarinet alive. David Krakauer and Merlin Shepherd Don Byron (with his Mickey Katz project), Matt Darriau and the Paradox Trio, Chris Speed in Pachora and many other player in such groups Brave Old World and Naftuli's Dream. Thankfully due to the various Klezmer camps and other initiatives it seems as though this is one area where the clarinet is in no need of publicity. The clarinet it seems is still taken seriously in Italy where I have noticed several 'clarinet' stars. For example: Gianluigi Trovesi - Radici ,Mauro Negri - Funky, Gabriele Mirabassi - La Stortino. I also notice – maybe through a classical training system - that many saxophone players double on the clarinet. Maybe this also helps to keep the tradition alive.

Some of the above players are also helping take the clarinet out of it's more traditional role and placing it in other contexts such as Don Byron with Vernon Reid, Chris Speed with Jim Black or Marcus Millers fine bass >clarinet playing on his own recordings. Maybe, if it doesn't already exist, it would be interesting to see one day a clarinet festival, here we could see and hear all the various modern players showing where it is that they are left taking this instrument today.

(Some) Modern Jazz clarinettists: Chris Speed, John Surman, Tony Coe, Michael Moore, Theo Jorgensmann, Sebastian Texier John Ruocco Ben Goldberg Ken Vandermark, Denis Colin, David Krakauer Matt Darriau.

(Some) Modern Italian clarinettists: Daniel D'Agaro Mauro Negri, Gianluigi Trovesi, Gabriele Mirabassi, Marco Tardito, Achille Succi, Eugenio Colombo.

Modern world music clarinettists: Ivo Papasov, Selim Sesler Barbarose Erkose Elshad Jabarov Petros-Loukas Khalkais Tassos Khalkais, Goria Feidman.

* Although I just haven't included many players - those which have slipped my memory at time of writing - I will be very happy to receive any suggestions concerning players whom you think I should listen to. Younever know I might not know them anyway.