Clarinet Quotations

Then when I was in grammar school I played the clarinet, and then, after clarinet I played the flute in college orchestra - besides singing in the college chorus and things like that.

I used to play flute and clarinet at school, and although I wasn't thinking about making a living or getting a pay cheque, I already knew I was going to play music all my life.

No birdcall is the musical equal of a clarinet blown with panache.

Benny Goodman plays the clarinet. I play music.

Listening to Benny [Goodman] talk about the clarinet was like listening to a surgeon get hung up on a scalpel.

I did all you can do with a clarinet. Any more would have been less.

I find that classical music helps put me in a place that is very calming and allows me to express emotion through my body. I played clarinet as a child, so I guess I have a bit of a musical ear.

He loves jazz and plays clarinet and trumpet,

I saw him at Sun City and didn't really know what to expect. But when he came out with a six-piece band, played the clarinet in a Big Band style and told these wonderful stories of his life in show business, it all ends up as one great big deal.

In this work, I wanted him (the bass clarinet soloist) to sort of cajole the strings into going along with him. He would sort of kindly and smilingly get them to see his way.

The guitar is such an incredible instrument; it plays classical, flamenco, jazz, country, bluegrass, rock, acid, blues. You'll never see a clarinet playing Black Sabbath. But you will see a guitar in a clarinet band playing rhythm. It is the most popular instrument in the world; it is the one everybody loves.

Ted Lewis could make the clarinet talk. What it said was put me back in the case!

There are two instruments worse than a clarinet - two clarinets.