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About Barney Bigard

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Musician

One of the premier clarinet players in the history of jazz, Barney Bigard remains immortal. Bigard carried the influence of his birth city, New Orleans, throughout his career. He played tenor sax but later concentrated on clarinet, which he studied with Lorenzo Tio. In 1925 he was hired by King Oliver and moved to Chicago. After two years with Oliver, he joined Duke Ellington’s Orchestra where he would remain for 15 years. Bigard’s New Orleans-style clarinet added another dimension to Ellington’s palette. His individual style and articulation were universally admired. His woody sound was a highlight of “Rose Room” and “Mood Indigo,” which he co-wrote with Ellington

Article: Interview

Virginia MacDonald: In Search Of A New Clarinet Renaissance

by John Chacona
June 8, 2026

The clarinet occupies an unusual space in jazz in the 2020s. Once a lead instrument with advocates who graced the covers of fanzines for music and popular culture, the clarinet now stands 20 Feet From Stardom as the title of the 2013 documentary film about background singers described. It's a common enough double for reed players, ...

Article: Take Five With...

Take Five with Clarinetist Davide Sgarra

by AAJ Staff
June 1, 2026

Meet Davide SgarraDavide Sgarra is an Italian jazz clarinetist and saxophonist based in Brooklyn, New York. Born and raised near Varese in northern Italy, he went on to earn his Bachelor of Music from the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague in the Netherlands and his Master of Music from Manhattan School of Music in New York ...

Article: Rising Stars

Introducing Saxophonist Paloma Ximena

by Sanford Josephson
May 1, 2026

In May 2022, Rio Americano High School in Sacramento, CA, was a finalist in Jazz at Lincoln Center's Essentially Ellington competition, and sophomore Paloma Ximena won two solo awards: Outstanding Clarinetist and Outstanding Alto Saxophonist. “That was really the start of my career," she said. “That was the moment when I really decided to pursue music." ...

Article: Album Review

Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Seek & Listen: Live At The Penthouse

Read "Seek & Listen: Live At The Penthouse" reviewed by Jack Kenny

by Jack Kenny
November 28, 2025

Few figures in jazz history have embodied the word original quite like Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Sightless from infancy, yet bursting with boundless vision, he turned live performance into theatre, ritual and revelation. On stage, he appeared as a commanding silhouette festooned with flutes, whistles, tenor saxophone, clarinet, bells, harmonica and his self-fashioned instruments--the manzello and stritch. ...

Article: Album Review

Lars Danielsson, John Parricelli and Verneri Pohjola: Trio

by Neil Duggan
November 8, 2024

Château Palmer is a wine estate in Margaux, in south-west France. Those that know about these things rate their wines as among the best anywhere in Bordeaux. If you are going to record a jazz album outside of the recording studio, then a light and airy wood-paneled salon at the château with French windows overlooking the ...

Article: Album Review

WHO Trio: Live At Jazz Festival Willisau 2023

Read "Live At Jazz Festival Willisau 2023" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
July 24, 2024

This jewel of an album was released just too late for inclusion in AAJ's Best Jazz Albums of 2024: All-Star Break Edition, where contributors were invited to name their three best albums released during the first half of the year (the article can be read here). But five gets you ten that it will be included ...

Article: Radio & Podcasts

Horace Silver, Bobby Broom & Anthony Branker

by Joe Dimino
April 2, 2023

We begin the 796th Episode of Neon Jazz with composer Anthony Branker and music from What Place Can Be For Us (Origin Records, 2023). From there, we dive into new music from the young NYC vocalist Emily Mazzella and her mentor Lonnie Leibowitz. From there, we profile tasty new music from the likes of Jimmy Farace, ...

Article: Building a Jazz Library

The Complete Louis Armstrong Columbia and Rca Victor Studio Sessions 1946-1966

by Vic Albani
January 24, 2022

Allora, mettiamo tutti gli aggettivi all'inizio: spettacolare, tentacolare, perfetto, luccicante, esaustivo, infinito, entusiasmante. Potremmo andare avanti per un bel po' di righe ma sarebbe anche stupido anche perché parlare di qualcosa che interessa uno dei nomi che hanno inventato il jazz, per di più in uno dei suoi periodi migliori sia per produzione che per altezza ...

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