HOW'D HE DO THAT?

I can't even fake it that fast. Listen for the clarinet.

When I was in high school, I was in band. If you know me at all, you know that by now. I'm a PROUD band nerd (she says as she holds up a white gloved fist, only the glove has the fingers cut off...because when you play clarinet in marching band, that's what you do. You cut the finger off so you can actually cover the finger holes on the clarinet completely). See. I told you I was a band nerd. I can play a variety of instruments, though - clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone, french horn, marching french horn, trumpet, and others...AND, not only was I a band nerd, I was THE band nerd. Drum Major two years.

I should say that I COULD play a variet of instruments. I haven't played in years.

Anyway...there is a licorice-stick playing god out there, and you probably don't even know it. Most people only think of Benny Goodman, if they know of ANY master clarinetist. But there's another. His name is Eddie Daniels. My family used to have a friend, a very old gentleman who would take me to experience the Cincy Symphony every so often. He was close friends with the principal cellist and his wife, who I think played violin. So we'd go to the symphony and let me tell you. The experience of a band, or orchestra, or symphony...it's just magical for me. The lights of the concert hall reflecting off the brass, the tension in the air as the players warm up individually, then together and the music...it's fantastic. I just love it.

But this guy Eddie Daniels. He's a genius. I used to have a video of him playing. His fingers move SO fast - it's almost like watching a video animation of a clarinetist. And I can't imagine how he breathes the way he does or moves this tongue quickly enough or staccatto enough to produce the sounds he does. Seriously, it's kind of amazing.

Even if you don't like orchestral music, or jazz music, or whatever he happens to be playing...you've got to appreciate the excellence of this man's talent. No real point in sharing this though beyond sharing some amazing music that you've probably never heard... Eddie Daniels!