Although it’s virtually extinct in contemporary jazz, the clarinet has one supreme living master in Eddie Daniels. This 1988 live recording, previously unissued, catches the full blaze of his early maturity, and also of his creative accord with pianist-composer Roger Kellaway. Their combined virtuosity goes beyond technique, taking in delicacy, wit and exquisite judgment of mood. All this is perfectly summed up in Wolfie’s Samba, a piece by Daniels which turns out to be a clever, cheeky but knowing pinch from Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet. And if it’s death-defying speed you’re after, try Kellaway’s The Spice Man. It would have defeated even Benny Goodman.
