Click on the picture to hear Kenny playing 'Travellin' All Alone'
I was delighted to see Kenny Davern’s album, The Hot Trio, amongst a list of the top one hundred jazz albums in last week’s Sunday Telegraph. As I’ve pointed out before on this blog (see the limitations of list-making) I am not a huge fan of lists but I agree whole-heartedly with Martin Gayford’s description of Kenny Davern as the finest jazz clarinettist of the late twentieth century.
The heyday of the jazz clarinet was back in the late thirties and forties when Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw were huge stars. With the ascendancy of bebop after the war, saxophones and trumpets become dominant and the clarinet became increasingly unfashionable.
But that didn’t deter Kenny Davern who was steeped in the history of jazz and was a great admirer amongst others of Pee Wee Russell and Irving Fazola. I was fortunate enough to meet Kenny on two ocassions. In the best traditions of jazz, he was a larger than life figure, a man of acerbic wit. He took the time and trouble to write down for me the names of some of his favourite players and the records that I should check out. He was delighted when I told him that I had a copy of his Hot Trio album and he took out from his pocket a photograph of the pianist on the record – Dick Wellstood – who was a life-long friend.
I remember one unfortunate punter requesting Moonglow, a tune that is synonymous with Benny Goodman. Kenny played it but not before he made the point that he’d never aspired to play like Benny Goodman. What he wanted was to sound like Kenny Davern – that is the challenge for every musician to find his or her own distinctive voice.
It was a challenge to which Kenny Davern was more than equal. The jazz trumpeter, Warren Vaché, speaking shortly after Davern’s death a couple of years ago said, “You could pick Kenny out on a record after two or three notes —like a hot knife going through butter. His playing was edgy and cutting and virile and, at the same time, passionate and tender…”
If you’re not familiar with Kenny Davern’s music and you’d like to hear more, in addition to The Hot Trio, I’d also recommend Summit Reunion which he made in 1990 with Bob Wilber but any record upon which you see his name comes with a guarantee of enjoyment.
Town Hall Matters 