CiTR

Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco was the man who brought the clarinet into the Modern jazz era. DeFranco began and can be heard on very early recordings in the mid-forties sounding like a combination of Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw but he soon was absorbing the musical language of Charlie Parker and his disciples and "modernized" his style and became the leading voice of the clarinet in the 40's.50's,60's and beyond. There were a few others who played modern clarinet but none could match Mr. DeFranco. This album isn't called "Mr.Clarinet!" for nothing! It features Buddy DeFranco's working band with Kenny Drew on piano, Milt Hinton on bass and the dynamic Art Blakey on drums. The repertoire is a well chosen mix of standards plus originals by DeFranco and Drew. This is Jazz at it's best!