Clarence Hutchenrider

Clarence Behrens Hutchenrider (born June 13, 1908 in Waco , Texas , † August 18, 1991 in New York City ) was an American swing jazz musician ( saxophone , clarinet ) .

Often the incorrect spelling of Hutchinrider is used.

Hutchenrider learned the clarinet at the age of 13 (after he initially wanted to learn the saxophone) and played in dance bands in Texas. He made friends with the saxophonist and arranger Lyle "Spud" Murphy, played with him for 14 months in the band of Ross Gorman (1928) and then in the band of violinist Austin Wiley (1931), in which he replaced Artie Shaw and in Pennsylvania and toured Ohio. From 1931 to 1943 he was a member of the Casa Loma Orchestra of Glen Gray . He played both saxophone and clarinet (occasionally flute, vocals) and was a soloist in the orchestra in their theme song Smoke Rings . In addition to the clarinet, he also played the saxophone (although he did not play a major role on this instrument in jazz history) and his baritone saxophone solo in I Got Rhythm of December 30, 1933 (Brunswick 6800) is probably the first extensive solo recording on this instrument . Dick Sudhalter attested that he had a smooth, clarinet-like playing style on this solo, and Gunther Schuller thought it was one of his best improvisations. According to Sudhalter, he was "undoubtedly" the leading soloist in the Casa Loma Orchestra.

According to Albert McCarthy , his solos were fluid and always interesting, his broad, powerful tone was partly reminiscent of Edmond Hall and he could vary his phrasing widely. After Gunther Schuller, he was one of the most popular soloists at Casa Loma, sometimes a bit technically erratic, but he was able to perform his solos with a kind of spontaneous free-spirited energy . He later adapted to the Benny Goodman style. Jeffrey Cooper found that his clarinet playing was best in his many fast, urgent high register solos, and that his thin, sometimes whispering tone was characterized by shaping phrasing and, as early as 1931, a well-developed sense of swing.

After his time at Casa Loma he was with Jimmy Lytell in the ABC radio band until 1946 , which he had to quit due to a lung disease. Then he was a freelancer in New York, who also led his own bands (so from 1958 to 1965 a trio in the Gaslight Club). He played with Walter Davidson in the 1950s . 1966 to 1974 he played with Bill's Gay Nineties and he played with the New California Ramblers founded by Vince Giordano under Dick Sudhalter (1976, 1979) and the New Orleans Nighthawks by Vince Giordano.

He had lived in Flushing (New York) since the 1950s and was still performing regularly in New York clubs in the 1980s. From 1982 he was a member of David Ostwald's Gully Low Jazz Band . He was involved in 170 recording sessions from 1931 to 1985, except for those mentioned with Mildred Bailey , Pee Wee Hunt , Bobby Hackett , Bob Thiele and Warren Vaché .

He was married twice and had a daughter from his first marriage.

literature

Jeffrey Cooper: Hutchenrider, Clarence (Behrens), in: Barry Kernfeld, The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, Macmillan 1994
B. Hutchenrider: Clarence Hutchenrider, International Musician, Volume 74, 1975, 6
D. Hague: Interview with Clarence Hutchenrider, Jazz Journal, Volume 14, No. 11, 1961, p. 9

Web links

Hutchenrider Collection, Rutgers University, pdf

Individual evidence

↑ Doug Ramsey : Early Baritone: A Followup (2017) in Rifftides
^ Sudhalter, Lost Chords, Oxford UP 1999, p. 349
↑ Schuller, Swing Era, Oxford UP, 1989, p. 644. A baritone solo was in itself an odd rarity in those days, and a full two choruses on that "unwieldy monstrosity" (as most sax players saw it) was absolutely unheard of .
↑ Sudhalter, Lost Chords, Oxford UP 1999, p. 348. There are also biographical information based on an interview.
^ McCarthy, Big Band Jazz, Berkley Publ. 1977, p. 192
↑ According to Sudhalter, Lost Chords, p. 349, this similarity is superficial at best. He had his own style after him, neither Chicago nor New Orleans, nor did he sound like Goodman, although he played similarly fluently, nor Frank Teschemacher, despite a certain graininess in the upper tempos.
^ Schuller, Swing Era, p. 644
^ New Grove Dictionary
^ Cooper: Hutchenrider's clarinet playing was best in his many fast, driving solos in the upper register. His thin, sometimes wispy tone was offset by shapely phrasing and, as early as 1931, a well-developed sense of swing .
↑ Tom Lord : Jazz Discography (online)

personal data
SURNAME	Hutchenrider, Clarence
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Hutchenrider, Clarence Behrens; Hutchinrider, Clarence
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American jazz saxophonist and clarinetist
DATE OF BIRTH	June 13, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH	Waco
DATE OF DEATH	August 18, 1991
Place of death	New York City

[1] Doug Ramsey : Early Baritone: A Followup (2017) in Rifftides

[2] Sudhalter, Lost Chords, Oxford UP 1999, p. 349

[3] Schuller, Swing Era, Oxford UP, 1989, p. 644. A baritone solo was in itself an odd rarity in those days, and a full two choruses on that "unwieldy monstrosity" (as most sax players saw it) was absolutely unheard of .

[4] Sudhalter, Lost Chords, Oxford UP 1999, p. 348. There are also biographical information based on an interview.

[5] McCarthy, Big Band Jazz, Berkley Publ. 1977, p. 192

[6] According to Sudhalter, Lost Chords, p. 349, this similarity is superficial at best. He had his own style after him, neither Chicago nor New Orleans, nor did he sound like Goodman, although he played similarly fluently, nor Frank Teschemacher, despite a certain graininess in the upper tempos.

[7] Schuller, Swing Era, p. 644

[8] New Grove Dictionary

[9] Cooper: Hutchenrider's clarinet playing was best in his many fast, driving solos in the upper register. His thin, sometimes wispy tone was offset by shapely phrasing and, as early as 1931, a well-developed sense of swing .

[10] Tom Lord : Jazz Discography (online)