Clarinet Gear Review: Reginald Kell's 1956 Boosey & Hawkes Series 2000 Bb Clarinet

Today I had the unique opportunity to play through many clarinets in the Arthur Benade Collection. Benade was a physicist whose work focused on the acoustics of wind instruments, and who taught at Cleveland's Case Western university from 1952 until his death in 1987. Not only did he study the acoustics of the clarinet in depth, he redesigned them himself, with some truly remarkable results. This morning, his son Martin was kind enough to allow jazz historian and clarinetist John Richmond and me access to the private collection, which is likely to be sold or archived in the near future. Contained in the collection are many rare clarinets--some which seemed to my eye dating from the 18th Century, along with an original Albert clarinet, many large bore Selmers, and Benade's own modified models, among others.

I'll dedicate a future post to a remarkable set of Benade clarinets, modified in 1968 and 1970 according to his acoustic theories, but today's post will feature something I never even dreamt of playing: one of Reginald Kell's clarinets. 

The instrument in question is a 1956 Boosey & Hawkes Series 2000 Bb clarinet. 

   

Detail of the Boosey & Hawkes Case from the Benade Collection

The logos of the horn were well-worn, indicating the instrument had been played frequently. I guess we can hope this wear was from Kell himself. Given the date of the instrument's manufacture, it's at least possible this was the clarinet played on Kell's Decca recordings of 1957, which include the Six Studies in English Folk Songs by Ralph Vaughan Williams, among others. We'll probably never know anything that detailed, but let's just say it's within the realm of historical possibility. 

Reginald Kell's Boosey & Hawkes Series 2000 Bb Clarinet:
The Benade Collection

Though it has been in a case, unplayed, for over thirty years, the pads and springs are in remarkable condition. It will need an overhaul if anyone wants to play it seriously, but even so, it's in good enough playing condition to play effectively even now. 

Reginald Kell's Boosey & Hawkes Series 2000 Bb Clarinet:
The Benade Collection

The review for and assessment of this clarinet is very simple: it's gorgeous. This Boosey & Hawkes Series 2000 possesses a big, rich, yet nimble tone, particularly in the clarion register. Perhaps the greatest surprise is the plaintive depth it yields in the upper clarion -- it's the type of sound one can't easily get on a Parisian or German horn, but which we hear throughout Kell's recordings. The chalumeau is reedy and substantial, and the altissimo full and easy. The player is capable of getting a rare combination of richness and diversity of color and power. I can't tell you how special it was to play this instrument. 

Detail of the Bell from Reginald Kell's Boosey & Hawkes
Series 2000 Bb Clarinet: The Benade Collection

I'm not sure what Martin Benade will ultimately decide to do with this instrument -- whether he will sell it or donate it to a museum or archive. I'm grateful to have had the chance to play it, though, and hope that it will ultimately go to a player who has both the skill as a clarinetist to get great music from it, and an appreciation of its history.

Jazz Clarinet Gear Review: Boosey & Hawkes Edgware

There are many on the web who say the B&H Edgware makes a good jazz clarinet. I've always been a bit skeptical of this, thinking is says more of the player's poor understanding of jazz sound than the instrument. Top jazz players have always played top pro model horns, and the Edgware was a high end student model horn from the 50s-70s when Boosey & Hawkes were at their height.

B&H Edgware

So it was with a predisposition towards dismissiveness that I recently played an Edgware dating from about 1949 (if the serial number chart I checked is to be believed). The particular model I played was in excellent condition. The keys were beautifully preserved, and my general impression was that this horn had either barely been played, or wonderfully restored recently--perhaps both. Having said that, the keywork was not the standard of a top professional horn.

chalumeau

Of all registers, the Edgware chalumeau betrays its "student" status most. Comfortable, easy to blow, and somewhat open, the main problem is a lack of depth, power, and character to the sound when compared with a vintage Selmer or Fritz Wurlitzer (whose chalumeau is perhaps unsurpassed for power and timbral palette). Still, it yields a good, solid sound with considerable body--more than I expected, but difficult to project.

clarion

The first nice surprise was the clarion. On this particular horn, the clarion matched the chalumeau better than many Buffet R-13s I've played. Keep in mind that my biggest criticism of the average R-13 is the timbral shifts between every register (and many in the altissimo).  The Edgware's smoothness would make some sense of players preferring it as a primary jazz horn--especially if they are coming to it from Buffets. Oddly enough, the higher I climbed on this horn, the better and more professional it sounded. Which brings me to the...

altissimo

Who would have though that a student horn could handle real altissimo playing? Yet the Edgware does. The altissimo on this horn is very close to a good Selmer. Flexible, with good punch to the sound, this a horn to be reckoned with.

So it is with a certain amount of surprise that I now say, if you are a doubler looking for a jazz horn with a very limited budget, give the Boosey & Hawkes Edgware a try. They are by far he best student level horn I've played, and the altissimo handles better than many contemporary pro models.