The Top 25 Songs Featuring Clarinet

As Ian Dury might have sung had he played the clarinet, "Hit me with your licorice stick." (That is "rhythm stick" for those not fluent in punk rock.) From the intricacies of classical music to the smooth swing of jazz to Klezmer—the folk music of the Eastern European Jewish population—the instrument resonates throughout a good portion of the civilized world. From slow and melancholy to gliding to blasting, to fingers flying and holes and valves opening and closing, this instrument has many associations, moods and voices. Perhaps it's seen as the sensible, skinnier brother of the saxophone, but the clarinet also has a sexy and seductive side as well as a silly and playful one. 

For the latter, look no further than the late comic actor John Candy, who could actually play the clarinet. He played it in his youth and famously showcased this skill while portraying the character Yosh Shmenge in the SCTV "Shmenge Brothers" sketches and the 1985 mockumentary The Last Polka. He also appeared on Sesame Street in 1987, attempting to teach the clarinet to Slimey, the pet orange worm of Oscar the Grouch.

Christopher Guest, best known for This Is Spinal Tap, took up the instrument as a child, but not the way he wanted. "I started on the clarinet. I was going to a music school—my mother took me—and the guy said, 'What do you want to play?' I said the drums, and my mother said, 'No, you don't. You don't want to play the drums.' So I said, 'Maybe the trumpet would be cool.' And my mother said, 'I don't think so.' And then the clarinet was handed to me."

Perhaps some of you may have had an experience with the clarinet in high school and found it challenging as Anat Cohen once put it: "We still have to overcome the notion that a clarinet squeaks. People need to remember what a beautiful instrument it is, including in popular music. The clarinet chose me more than I chose the clarinet. When I play the clarinet, I am 100 percent myself. It is as if it is part of my body."

Versatile in sound, from pure and smooth to down-and-dirty growl, gradual glissando to noisy blast, the modern clarinet is a single-reed woodwind instrument with a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, evolved from a Baroque instrument, the chalumeau in the early 18th century. The clarinet family has one of the largest ranges of the woodwinds, from the big deep octocontrabass all the way up to the high piccolo model. The B-flat is the most common.

The clarinet is often present in classical music. "Truly your instrument has so soft and lovely a tone that nobody with a heart could resist it," said Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to his close friend and woodwind musical muse Anton Paul Stadler, who was himself a renowned clarinetist, and for whom the great composer wrote his "Clarinet Concerto." In Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, the cat is represented by the clarinet. The instrument plays a sneaky, staccato melody in a low register to represent the cat creeping around, often featuring a rapid chromatic scale to depict it climbing up a tree.

Of course, the clarinet is no stranger in the world of jazz. Lee Konitz once remarked his hero is the king of swing. "Benny Goodman was one of the big influences as a clarinetist. That's why I wanted the clarinet." Another son of Jewish immigrants, Arthur Jacob Arshawsky, aka Artie Shaw, had a stellar career and has been called the King of the Clarinet. Shaw admired Goodman, but didn't let on. "When I first met Benny Goodman, he wouldn't talk about anything but clarinets, mouthpieces, reeds, etc. When I tried to change the subject, he said 'But that's what we have in common. We both play clarinet.' I said, 'No, Benny, that's where we're different. You play clarinet, I play music.'"

But the instrument also has its detractors, even if tongue-in-cheek like Victor Borge: "Clarinets, like lawyers, have cases, mouthpieces, and they need a constant supply of hot air in order to function." And from Ambrose Bierce: "The clarinet is an instrument of torture operated by a person with cotton in his ears. There are two instruments worse than a clarinet—two clarinets." 

In contrast, Acker Bilk, who is one of the instrument's well-known proponents has said: "I look at my clarinet sometimes and think, I wonder what's going to come out of there tonight? You never know." He may well have been thinking about Squidward Tentacles from SpongeBob SquarePants, an iconic cartoon character known for playing the clarinet, often practicing as a hobby despite his questionable talent. He is a passionate, though often criticized player who refers to his instrument as "Clarry."

The following is an essential list of the top 25 jazz songs featuring clarinet and played in many different styles. As Artie Shaw once said in a Yogi Berra-ism: "I did all you can do with a clarinet. Any more would have been less."

25. Eddie Daniels—"Morning Thunder"

Morning Thunder (Columbia, 1980)

This was probably one of the first jazz albums to feature a clarinet in a smooth/jazz fusion setting. Daniels later disowned this album, which is a shame because it is still a tight performance from the band and an ebullient one from the clarinetist.

24. John Ellis & Double Wide—"Top Down"

Fireball (Sunnyside, 2026)

This has an interesting vibe with Matt Perrine's sousaphone providing the bass part while Ellis on clarinet and Gary Versace's Rhodes supply Brazilian rhythms. 

23. Tuba Skinny—"Jubilee Stomp"

Some Kind-a-Shake (Self Produced, 2019)

Is everybody happy and loving this or what? Check out the couple dancing and the dog wagging his tail. Their obvious delight in street music is infectious. Ewan Bleach rocks the clarinet, and Robin Rapuzzi is no scrub on the washboard.

22. Billie Holiday and the Teddy Wilson Orchestra with Vido Musso—"The Way You Look Tonight"

78 rpm single (Brunswick, 1936)

Isn't this lovely, just the way Musso states the melody and swings for Lady Day.

21. Steve Reich—"New York Counterpoint"

New York Counterpoint/Eight Lines/Four Organs (Bang on a Can, 2000)

Anastasia Schmidlin is on clarinet and bass clarinet. Very cool video.

20. Pete Fountain—"Medley: Licorice Stick/Licorice Stick Rag"

Dr. Fountain's Magical Licorice Stick Remedy for the Blues  (Coral, 1970)

"Licorice Stick" had a brief fling on the '60s pop charts. The album features Dixieland and traditional jazz styles.

19. Johnny Dodds' Black Bottom Stompers—"Wild Man Blues"

single release / "Melancholy b-side (Brunswick, 1927)

Louis Armstronghad formed his own band in 1927, the Hot Five and the Hot Seven. After seeing Dodds perform this tune with his own band, Armstrong asked Dodds to play with him.

18. Anat Cohen Quartetinho—"Paco"

Bloom (Anzic, 2024)

With Tal Mashiach, Vitor Gonçalves and James Shipp. Enjoyed how the acoustic guitar and piano really works with the clarinet.

17. Vernon Reid—"You Say He's Just A Psychic Friend"

Mistaken Identity (Sony/550, 1996)

Finds the Living Colour guitar shredder very much going down the rabbit hole with Don Byron, whose clarinet goes bonkers just after the two-minute mark.

16. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart—"Clarinet Concerto in A Major: K. 622, II. Adagio"

Mozart: Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra (RCA Victor, 1957)

This version is played by the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Charles Munch and featuring Benny Goodman on clarinet.

15. Todd Sickafoose—"The Gold Gate"

Bear Proof (Secret Hatch, 2023)

Kirk Knuffke played clarinet on this album, which uses Thelonious Monk compositions as a bridge to new works.

14. Eric Dolphy—"Hat and Beard"

Out to Lunch (Blue Note, 1964)

Dolphy takes his bass clarinet out for some left-field rhythms, weird atonality, and general avant-garde trickiness. Pretty sweet band with Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson, Richard Davis, and Tony Williams.

13. John Surman—"Bitter Aloe"

Words Unspoken (ECM, 2024)

Surman is another saxophonist who is more than happy to dabble on bass clarinet. This album featured ace guitarist Rob Luft, Rob Waring on vibes and Thomas Strønen on drums. There is no bassist, which gives the bass clarinet plenty of sonic space to shine through.

12. Art Tatum with Buddy DeFranco—"A Foggy Day"

single release with b-side "Makin' Whoopee" (Shellac, 1956)

DeFranco apparently had a cold when he was selected to accompany Tatum as part of the Group Masterpieces recordings, but you wouldn't know it for the joy which comes through in this performance. Maybe he loaded up on DayQuil (or whatever folks with the sniffles used in the '50s).

11. Gianluigi Trovesi —"Dido and Aeneas, Z. 626: When I Am Laid in Earth"

Straveganze Consonanti (ECM, 2023)

This is an arrangement of a Henry Purcell composition for chamber orchestra that Trovesi recorded with baroque violinist Stefano Montanari and a cast of Italian musicians, merging folk elements with jazz.

10. The Jimmy Giuffre 3—"In the Mornings Out There"

Live in Graz (Ezz-Thetics, 1991)

This is a Carla Bley composition for a trio with Paul Bley and Steve Swallow from the Live in Graz recording of 1961, later release in a studio version on the ECM album 61 in 1992. Giuffre came along at the wrong time as fiery hard bop was all the rage.

9. Mustafa Kandirali—"Bahriye Çiftetellisi"

Oyun Havalari (K.Ö., 1978)

The renowned Turkish clarinetist with his group, playing jazz with a Turkish mélange. A çiftetellesi is a belly dance, but this recording is from Turkish television where a dancer would be yasaktir (don't even think about it).

8. Louis Sclavis—"Darwich dans la Ville"

Characters on a Wall (ECM, 2019)

Fabulous rhythmic underpinning on this, and everyone's playing is interesting, but it's Sclavis' show and he is on his game.

7. Bonobo—"Animals"

Animal Magic (Tru Thoughts, 2000)

Tom Chant is on bass clarinet, wonderfully atmospheric in this context and offering a solid analogue woodiness to proceedings. Later on, soprano saxophone adds a sonic edginess to this groove track.

6. Duke Ellington—"I Can't Begin to Tell You"

Duke Ellington Presents (Bethlehem, 1956)

Harry Carney on the bass clarinet is featured here. He played with Duke for over forty years, mainly on baritone saxophone, When Ellington died in 1974, Carney said "I have nothing to live for if Duke is gone." He died four months later.

5. Quinteto Villa-Lobos with Luiz Eça—"Cais"

Vanguarda (Odeon, 1972)

Brazilian woodwind quintet with a bossa nova piano maestro on a beautiful version of Milton Nascimento's introspective ballad. Gonzaga Carneiro on clarinet.

4. Chris Potter—"Indigo Ildikó"

Eagle's Point (Edition, 2022)

Potter is mainly known as an alto saxophonist but picks up bass clarinet every now and again. It's no surprise that he has A-list accompaniment: John Patitucci (bass), Brian Blade (drums) and Brad Mehldau (piano).

3. Anouar Brahem—"Stopover at Dijbouti"

The Astounding Eyes of Rita (ECM, 2009)

Swede Klaus Gesing is on bass clarinet, in a coloring role with the occasional solo. This is one of Brahem's best ensembles; the low-end sound of bass guitar and bass clarinet is luxurious.

2. Bill Frisell—"I Can't Be Satisfied"

Have A Little Faith (Nonesuch, 1992)

Another album of Bill Frisell's classic exploration of Americana. It's a cover of a song by McKinley Morganfield (aka Muddy Waters). Musicians include Frisell, clarinetist Don Byron, bassist Kermit Driscoll, accordion player Guy Klucevsek and drummer Joey Baron. Byron wails.

1. Eddie Henderson—"Galaxy"

Sunburst (Blue Note, 1975)

After an eerie trumpet intro by Henderson, Bernie Maupin's processed bass clarinet leads the band on an adventurous trip through a vast galaxy, perhaps to the chaos of the black hole at the center. His clarinet solo takes the instrument into progressively weirder space until it's really screaming. It's a great band, expanding Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi-era septet into an octet featuring Henderson, Maupin, Billy Hart, Buster Williams, Julian Priester, Alphonso Johnson, Harvey Mason, and George Duke. Yes, two drummers and two bassists. Very Bitches Brew.