Jim's latest trip to Russia
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Jazz in Ekaterinburg
Jim Beatty “bard of the clarinet”
September 30, 2009 opened the jazz season in The Ural Government Theater. Local jazz musicians from our area were Anton Ilenkov, guitar; AlexanderBulatov, bass; Yuri Kovalevsky , drums; and also musicians from other parts of the world, in particular, Beatty and Klipple from America, and Russian artists, famous for their many appearances in town: Nicolai Baranov Big Band and Sergei Pron Quartet.
Adam Klipple is a contemporary pianist, composer, arranger; famous for his concert work and as organizer of musical events in America , Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Minor.
Beatty, an outstanding musician of traditional jazz, has appeared in North America, Europe, and China . This is his first appearance at the Ekaterinaberg International Jazz Academy, which trains young musicians in styles of the jazz masters.
The concert consisted of three parts. At the beginning, four musicians made up the setting for traditional clarinet styling. We heard the golden standards of early jazz , in particular,“Basin Street Blues,” “Sweet Georgia Brown,” and of course, “Petite Fleur; the crowning piece for clarinet. Then, the quartet, without Beatty, played several contemporary works in the fusion style, in which Klippledemonstrated his pianism on both the piano and the keyboard. At the end, Beatty played the well-known“Undecided,” in the style of JackMcDuff, and popular in the USSR as “Desert Breeze,” after which the musicians unexpectedly left the stage, leaving behind fans bearing flowers.
Beatty has played the clarinet since the age of eight. He also plays the soprano saxophone expressively, in all registers, showing the beauty of the melody and of his improvisations. In all of his playing can be heard the spiritual closeness to the early jazz musicians. For example, he considers the New Orleans clarinetist Johnny Doddsas his teacher. The beginning of his musical life was spent in theMecca of jazz, New York. The famous clarinetist Omar Simeon was his teacher there. It is evident that Jim moves in the circles of jazz giants such as Sidney Bechet, Pee Wee Russell, and Edmond Hall. In an appearance at the Jazz Academy, Jim related that he had met Louis Armstrong several times and was friends with him before Jim entered the Army, where he put together his first band. As a result, he later organized several other Dixieland bands. Jim has toured America, Canada, England, and now Ekaterinberg.
Beatty inspired Tim Dabringhausand Matthias Oberg to create the film, “Undertakers Paradise,” concerning the friendship of the two men. The film was presented in Munich in 2000.
Jim Beatty — this is a serious musician who plays only his favorite music. He is not excessively showy. However, to the attentive listener, he is very expressive in his movements and poses. Jim is one of the Last Mohicans of jazz. The difference between Beatty and the last of Fennimore Cooper’s warrior Mohicans is that the type of jazz musician he exemplifies will never grow old
Other older, active jazz performers, such as Wayne Shorter, Sonny Rawlins, Ornette Coleman, Ron Carter, and DaveBrubeck, are active to this day. Pop music reflects contemporary society, especially the young. But the classics of acoustic jazz are for people of all ages. For example, the whole world danced to Big Band swing, New Orleans Dixieland reflected the joy of the dark-skinned populations ofAmerica, and this music is being performed to this day with success.
Jim Beatty, the“bard of the clarinet,”brings to life this music of a bygone era, still enjoyed today.
Review by = Viktor Bainov