The World is Waiting for the Sunrise

While #1 Son was home last week and sleeping in his old room, which is now the den/guest room and favored practice room for clarinet, Snowman went over to TFoMC's house to practice. Now that the room is again available, we get the pleasure of hearing him play.

Tonight I came in from walking the dog and could have sworn Benny Goodman was in my house! I heard his characteristic runs.

And here's what Snowman has been doing. He's preparing the Copland Clarinet Concerto for the placement auditions at Beantown Conservatory, and since Benny Goodman commissioned the concerto, he thought he could prepare better by learning more about how Benny Goodman played. He listened to a recording of "The World is Waiting for the Sunrise," and using the chords in his Jazz Real Book, he transcribed Goodman's interpretation from the recording.

Now that the transcription is complete, he is playing it, Goodman-style.

I wonder, do I ever break down a task the way he did? Considering the influences and working through the possibilities with such diligence? I tend to float through life relying on intuition and inspiration. I might have considered his technical approach to be overly intellectual, if I hadn't heard him explain it. I understood completely, and I heard what he took from it, both in the jazz piece and in his playing of the Copland.

It was hard to let him go away two years ago. But when I hear what I heard tonight, the music and his underscoring thoughts, I know we did the right thing.

Here's Benny: