Daniel
Smith finds that a lot of people
mistake his bassoon for an oboe.
The bassoon is one of the last relatively
unknown instruments, he said. He
is apt to understand. There was
a time when he could not differentiate
between a clarinet and a trumpet.
That was when he was in his teens-and
not a musician at all. "I
started indirectly and late in life."
Smith said of his career, which
has made him one of the few bassoon
soloists in the world.
Among
his many engagements will be one
at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute
Guest Artist Series on Sunday in
the Museum of Art Auditorium.
Smith
did not play any instrument until
he was 16. he began with the clarinet
and went through all of the reeds,
tackling the bassoon at age 24 when
he was in the Army, where he served
as solo piccolo with the West Point
Band. A real jazz buff who hung
out in clubs, he also played saxophone
and considers Charlie Parker "an
absolute genius". I was a student
in high school and I knew nothing
whatsoever about music. It was New
Year's Eve and the Benny Goodman
trio was playing on television.
I was totally entranced by watching
this man play the clarinet. Shortly
afterwards, Smith went to a music
studio and told them what he wanted
to study. "Would you believe, I
was so ignorant, I actually thought
Benny Goodman was playing the trumpet?
I went on and on talking about taking
trumpet lessons and this man finally
says to me, "Describe this trumpet,
it sounds like a flute". I said
it was long and black and someone
named Benny Goodman played it".
He said, "I hate to tell you, that's
a clarinet."
After
that, Smith learned "everything
in a hurry". Initially a clarinet
major in college, he switched to
flute before graduation. His turning
to the bassoon was purely for economic
reasons. "The reason I took it up
had nothing to do with becoming
a soloist. I was coming out of the
army with a family to support, so
I figured if I could play a double
reed instrument along with the ones
I did play, perhaps opportunities
for Broadway shows or studio work
would come my way". About 10 years
ago, he began performing recitals.
He started to then make recordings
and has now completed 14, with his
next to be released this spring.
Smith isn't sure what makes his
sound unique. Others have said that
it is different, easily recognizable.
"I just play the way I feel the
music should sound. It is a composite
of all my training on various instruments
and all the music I have listened
to over the years. Ultimately when
I play, it probably is very individualistic".
While
the bassoon has not been a popular
solo instrument nowadays, it was
fashionable in the 18th century,with
Vivaldi composing 37 concertos for
the instrument. Mozart wrote one
and possible a second, and his is
the most famous. In this century,
a solo wind instrumentalist was
almost unheard of until the 1950s
when flautist Jean-Pierre Rampal
flooded the market with recordings
and became a world-class soloist.
"He paved the way for other wind
soloists" Smith said. The bassoon
is now in a transitory stage, getting
more air-play on classical radio
stations.From his own performances,
Smith said that audiences relate
to it easily. "They like the sound,
the vocal quality. It is like a
cello...the cello and bassoon are
almost analogous in terms of their
ranges".
Among
his many recordings, Smith has made
a crossover disc, "Bassoon Bon-Bons",
which he described as a curious
hybrid, one of a kind". Crossover
means anything written for one performing
medium and rearranged for another.
The recording contains such tunes
as "Danny Boy", which has received
a lot of airplay. For his Utica
concert, Smith will perform works
by Vivaldi, Beethoven, Elgar and
Reicha. There also will be some
"bon-bons" such as "Danny Boy",
Scott Joplin rags, and "La Donna
e Mobile" from Rigoletto by Verdi.
-
Jonas Kover
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