Kenny Davern
Described in The New York Times as "the finest clarinetist playing today" in the 1990s, that high praise wasn't far off the mark, as it applied to Kenny Davern in the autumn of his life, at the peak of his powers. Call him a jazz purist, even a snob, but Davern believed in playing standards, and that he did. Tunes by George Gershwin, Eubie Blake, Fats Waller, Irving Berlin; what are sometimes referred to as Great American Songbook tunes. He was often praised for the clarity and pureness of his tone, and often played outdoor festival gigs without amplification.
Davern was born in Huntington, on New York's Long Island, on January 7, 1935. He lived with his grandparents in Queens, New York after his own parents split up, and was shuffled through a maze of foster homes in Brooklyn and Queens in his youth. He began playing clarinet when he was 11, via the radio. He heard Pee Wee Russell playing "Memphis Blues" with Mugsy Spanier's Ragtimers, and right then, he had a revelation. He knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life playing traditional and blues-based jazz.
One big break was a phone call from trumpeter Harry "Red" Allen, who he accompanied locally on gigs around Queens while still in high school. He began playing clarinet and switched to saxophone for a time in high school, but switched back to clarinet before auditioning for pianist Ralph Flanagan's big band in the early '50s. Davern recalled he got the clarinet-playing part in Flanagan's band by bluffing his way in, saying he had another gig and the sooner he could audition, the better. He played with the bandleader in 1953 and 1954.
While still a teen, Davern made his recording debut with Jack Teagarden, and four years later, he recorded his first album under his own name, In the Gloryland, for the Elektra Records label. Davern's discography is extensive and includes many albums for the Concord, Chiaroscuro, and Arbors labels.
Like any other focused musician, Davern devoted a lot of time to what he called his apprenticeship period, when he worked as a sideman to other bandleaders and recorded little under his own name. He collaborated on-stage and in the recording studio with trombonist Teagarden, trumpeters Harry "Red" Allen and Buck Clayton, and drummer Jo Jones. After he hit 40, he began having thoughts about leading his own group, and by that point, he'd been playing professionally for more than two decades. Davern always considered himself fortunate to have played with many of the pre-bebop jazz stylists in clubs in Manhattan in the '40s.
Davern moved to the New Jersey Shore town of Manasquan from New York City in 1965, and he blamed the rise of rock & roll for diminished incomes suffered by many of his friends who played traditional jazz. He began to forge his own path and career with his own recordings, leading his own ensembles in the late '70s. For much of the '80s and part of the '90s, he spent upwards of 230 nights a year on the road, and it wasn't until the mid-'90s that he curtailed his travel schedule significantly, playing only a number of select festivals each year. His notable recordings include anything he recorded for the Florida-based Arbors Records label in the '80s and '90s and into the new millennium. "I like to play music that makes me feel good," Davern said in an interview. "I like to listen to it when I play it, and most of that music was played by people who happened to be born around the turn of the century. The lyrics may be corny, but the tunes are not. And the tunes will survive." Davern passed away at his home in Sandia Park, New Mexico, on December 14, 2006, after having a heart attack. He was 71.
© Richard Skelly /TiVo
Discography
20 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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I'll See You in My Dreams
Jazz - Released by MusicMasters on 1 jan. 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
John & Joe
Jazz - Released by Chiaroscuro Records on 23 okt. 1977
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Live At the Floating Jazz Festival
Kenny Davern and Joe Temperley
Jazz - Released by Chiaroscuro Records on 22 jan. 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Soprano Summit
Jazz - Released by Storyville Records on 7 nov. 1976
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Summit Reunion Plays Some Al Jolson Songs
Jazz - Released by Jazzology on 5 dec. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Summit Reunion in Atlanta
Jazz - Released by Jazzology on 6 dec. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Reunion At Arbors
Jazz - Released by Arbors Records on 5 mei 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Live Hot Jazz
Kenny Davern, Dick Wellstood, Chuck Riggs
Jazz - Released by Jazzology on 12 dec. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Kenny Davern: My Inspiration
Kenny Davern, Bob Haggart Orchestra
Jazz - Released by Jazz Heritage Society on 26 apr. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Live at Vineyard: Kenny Davern and Dick Wellstood - Never in a Million Years...
Jazz - Released by Baseline Jazz on 1 okt. 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
One Hour Tonight
Jazz - Released by Jazz Heritage Society on 23 feb. 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nobody's Sweetheart
Dick Hyman, Kenny Davern, Windy City Stompers
Jazz - Released by Rivermont Records on 27 mei 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Who Cares (Live)
Jazz - Released by nagel heyer records on 12 jun. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Times Change
Leonard Gaskin, Kenny Davern, Benny Morton
Jazz - Released by nagel heyer records on 1 jan. 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Miracles - George Gershwin Remembered
George Masso, Danny Moss, Kenny Davern
Jazz - Released by nagel heyer records on 10 feb. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
You and the Night and the Music
Jazz - Released by Nagel heyer records on 5 jul. 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Times Change
Leonard Gaskin, Kenny Davern, Benny Morton
Jazz - Released by Crazy Warthog Media on 1 jan. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo