REBIRTH OF THE CLARINET?

It is ironic that the year of Benny Goodman’s death is showing signs of becoming a year for the first genuine renaissance in jazz clarinet.

Many theories have been advanced to explain the obsolescence of this distinctive horn after the swing era. It has been argued that the instrument is too demanding technically; yet in the 1930s, before jazz education existed, this seemed to present no problem that Goodman, Artie Shaw, Barney Bigard, Edmond Hall, Buster Bailey and others could not overcome.

Today, given the limitless opportunities to study any instrument at any of countless colleges where jazz is a subject for official study, the number of specialists might have been expected to multiply. Instead, the clarinet went into a decline from which it is only now emerging.

The bebop era produced only one completely accomplished soloist, Buddy De Franco, who was variously thought of as the Charlie Parker of the clarinet or as the Benny Goodman of bop. His career has been erratic. An attempt to form a big band produced musically impeccable results but found no market; for the last 35 years, he has made his living leading small groups, lecturing at colleges, making the occasional album (a five-LP set of his best mid-1950s works, reissued on Mosaic, was reviewed here last week).

For a while De Franco had no serious rivals, but the decision of saxophonist Eddie Daniels to concentrate on clarinet produced a startling album, “Breakthrough” (GRP 1024). Backed by a symphony orchestra and a jazz rhythm section, he played Jorge Calandrelli’s Concerto for Jazz Clarinet and Orchestra, which takes up one side; the other is devoted to works by classical composers (C.P.E. Bach, J. S. Bach) and pop/jazz writers (Torrie Zito, Daniels).

Daniels crosses the line seamlessly between written parts and astonishing improvisation on a level that places him in a class with De Franco. That the album carries warm endorsements by Artie Shaw, Quincy Jones and De Franco himself is eloquent testimony to a virtuoso of the first order.

Like Daniels, Richard Stoltzman refuses to acknowledge any Berlin Walls between jazz and classical music. Though he is known primarily for his classical accomplishments, his appearances with Woody Herman’s Orchestra (playing “Ebony Concerto,” which Igor Stravinsky composed specifically for Herman) say something about his attitude, as does the inclusion in his recent album “Begin Sweet World” (RCA Red Seal AML 1-7124) of the great jazz bassist Eddie Gomez, and of a cut in which he segues from a solemn “Abide With Me” to “Blue Monk.”

Artie Shaw, the world’s greatest living clarinetist, is also, sadly, an ex-clarinetist who renounced the horn permanently 31 years ago. He has, however, done us a great service by bringing to prominence Dick Johnson, the clarinetist and leader of the revived Shaw orchestra. Johnson adheres largely to Shaw’s style when playing the band’s familiar arrangements, but now and then, especially in a jam-session situation, he will break out with improvisations that display a stylistic personality closer to De Franco. However, as a youth he idolized Shaw. He is well represented on three Concord Jazz albums, the latest being “Swing Shift” (CJ 1067), in which he also plays flute and alto, tenor and soprano saxes.

In a more contemporary vein, John Carter has gained acceptance as a composer and clarinetist whose most striking venture into the avant-garde is “Castles of Ghana” (Gramavision 18-8603-1). Full of heady dissonances, percussion, vocal effects and extended orchestral passages, it leaves enough room for Carter to reveal, in a movement called “Capture,” his amazing facility for jumping from one register to another with an ease that seems to extend the instrument’s naturally capacious range.

Carter is heard in the less formal setting of “Clarinet Summit” (India Navigation IN 1062), a unique mixture of traditional and original themes that finds him in the company of the New Orleans clarinetist Alvin Batiste, David Murray on bass clarinet and Jimmy Hamilton, best known for his 26 years with Duke Ellington.

Like his predecessor Barney Bigard in the Ellington orchestra, Hamilton was splendidly showcased, but the plethora of solo talents in the Ducal ranks limited his opportunities for exposure. For the past 13 years he has been living quietly on St. Croix, playing and teaching, returning only occasionally to the mainland.

Not to be bypassed in any survey of jazz clarinet are those artists who are known primarily as saxophonists. Most remarkably, Phil Woods, when not displaying his virtuosity on the alto sax, has revealed a fluency and creativity on clarinet that could earn him a second identity were he to concentrate on it more often.

Woods has embarked on his clarinet excursions too infrequently, though one track on the album “Three for All” (Enja 3081), a tune called “It’s Time to Emulate the Japanese,” finds him in admirable clarinet form. Surely the time for an all-clarinet Woods album is long overdue; he could do much to stimulate still further what appears to be a renaissance in the use of this valuable member of the instrumental family.

Among the other exponents who have doubled on various reed instruments are Bill Smith, who has used the clarinet with Echoplex effects in Dave Brubeck’s Quartet; Anthony Braxton, who has dealt seriously with a dozen instruments, though his clarinet contributions have been relatively infrequent; and Kenny Davern, a mainstreamer heard often at the Dick Gibson jazz parties and other gatherings of swing-era eminences.

It has been argued that the sound of the clarinet is much too mild, too thin to compete in this era of honking saxophones and the thousand-watt thunder of amplified guitars. This theory cannot stand up under close examination; after all, the delicate blend of the Modern Jazz Quartet still finds audiences around the world, as does the subtle, understated vibraphone of Gary Burton.

Given the right setting such as De Franco, Daniels and others were accorded in their recent albums, the clarinet is still capable of generating enough excitement to stimulate the most demanding ear. With its dark, brooding chalumeau lower register, and its dancing high tones to provide contrast, this noble survivor of the swing days deserves the recaptured glory it now seems to be on the verge of achieving.