Word: allen
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...expected to play to half-filled houses," Allen says during a pre-concert chat in the band's dressing room, though perhaps it shouldn't have come as too great a surprise that a self-described "amateur" clarinetist who also happens to be a world-famous filmmaker can sell out halls like the Olympia, which recently canceled a concert by jazz great Ornette Coleman owing to low ticket sales. But if fame pulls in the crowds, Allen works hard to send them home happy. "I'm very conscious of the audience. It's not like Michael's Pub, where...
...Allen, who says he used to throw up every night before going onstage as a comedian, speaking to live audiences is marginally less painful than winning an Oscar. But in the concert setting, he seems to enjoy it, peppering his comments with jokes and repartee. In Paris, much to the delight of the locals, he does all this in passable French. Midway through the show, he announces a series of clarinet-banjo duets. "The others have to rest their lips," he explains. "But not me. I'm very strong, because I live right. I eat well and sleep well...
...music, what Allen lacks in in clarinet technique he makes up in sheer energy and passion. He goes for what he calls a "crude" sound, based on the styles of New Orleans legends like George Lewis, Albert Burbank and Sidney Bechet. Give him an A for authenticity. Few players today can boast such a powerful tone. That's due partly to his use of an extremely hard reed (Rico No. 5, about one step down from a roof shingle) and partly to his penchant for the now obsolete Albert system of keys and fingerings, favored by all the old-timers...
...Allen has been smart enough to surround himself with experienced professionals--Davis, cornetist Simon Wettenhall, trombonist Dan Barrett, bassist Greg Cohen, drummer John Gill and pianist Cynthia Sayer--who provide strong, sensitive backing to his clarinet leads. For more than two hours the band runs through an eclectic repertoire ranging from Dixieland standards and blues to pop and gospel numbers. There are few concessions to showmanship: Allen keeps his eyes closed and legs crossed most of the time, and his stage costume consists of the usual baggy green corduroys, plaid shirt, gray cardigan and the trademark black-rimmed glasses. Which...
After the final encore, Allen holds court in a red satin-draped dressing room that looks like the kind of bordellos where jazz was born. Two French political luminaries are ushered in: former Culture Minister Jack Lang and Socialist Party leader Lionel Jospin. Lang, who railed for years against American "cultural imperialism," is now fawning over one of its exemplars. "Woody's music is like a fountain of youth," he gushes...