Word: clarinet
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...must say that it is extremely doubtful if so prodigious an undertaking could have succeeded without an actor of Ian Richardson's scope and power. His voice is like the trumpet of the Lord at the Second Coming. He can insinuate like a violin, wheedle like a clarinet and thunder anathemas like a great bass drum. And alongside that, Richardson maintains a physical counterpoint of impish comic invention, which is an equally essential element of the Shavian rhetoric...
Goodman is 67 years old. He made his name playing clarinet and leading a big band in 1935, adding a contagious beat to the style of big band jazz and making it a rage. Goodman was among the first to send recordings to the top of the national hit charts when they became an institution in the '30s. The King of Swing still plays foot-stomping music with smoothness and style. His old fans have not forgotten him, and his name has not been lost on later generations...
When Goodman came in, the audience stood. He looked tired but suave, with his thinning white hair, holding his black clarinet, in his black and white suit. The couple in the balcony sat on edge. Benny was not young. His hand did not look strong when it gave Bunch the tempo, and he took a few deep breaths before he put the clarinet to his lips. But he followed the beat in and when he started to blow, forty years made no difference. Goodman played strong and jubilant, and moved like the puppet of some demon beat he swallowed...
...night; I could not say how long. We got lost in a river of swing that night. When Benny played smooth, he conjured bright images of a giant ballroom, like the inside of a wedding cake, where ethereal couples foxtrotted and tomorrow never came. When Benny made his clarinet wail, he raised memories of dark, empty places--lonely spots where it seemed the sun would never rise. He played to the heart of Friday night, but he was always a perfect gentleman. When he came back for an encore, he told the audience in a charming, tired voice, "Thank...
...most What Is To Be Done readers, Goodman is beyond nostalgia. And the word is that Goodman plays with an ageless enthusiasm. The What Is To Be Done swing reporter got it from the source this summer. She heard Goodman play at Carnegie Hall, where he handled his clarinet like a greased weasel. His upbeat has not come down. His aging fans maybe did not get up and dance as legend says they did in the Thirties, but they did clap and stomp in their seats. Swing music never died. It just went out of style. Will Fleetwood Mac make...