Ear First: From Rhapsody in Blue to Buddy DeFranco and Bird | Ron Odrich, Pt. 3

Ron Odrich didn't start the clarinet the way most people do. As a kid, he snuck the clarinet off the stand in his father's house (his dad was a professional doubler), soaked the reed, and taught himself the opening glissando from Rhapsody in Blue entirely by ear. No teacher. No sheet music. No idea what the notes were called.  By the time his father found out, Ron could already play it. His father called in a teacher the same day. That intuitive, ears-first relationship with the instrument never left him. And in this third installment of Jay Hassler's conversation with Ron Odrich, you hear where it led: to first chair at Bryant High School without being able to read clarinet notation, to a meeting with Buddy DeFranco at Birdland at age 12, to serious classical study with Bob Marcellus, playing with the Airmen of Note, to hearing Charlie Parker live at the Three Deuces and eventually meeting Bird backstage, and through a 15-year hiatus before finding his way back through a chance connection with Eddie Daniels. Along the way, Ron and Jay get into what it actually means to play jazz by ear rather than by formula. What separates the musicians who are "playing the song" from those who are just running patterns over chord changes. And what it feels like to play an instrument so fluently that there are no obstacles. This is the Clarinet Ninja Podcast, hosted by Jay Hassler. If you're an adult clarinet player looking to get better, check out the Clarinet Ninja Dojo: https://www.clarinetninja.com/dojo-landing