Biography:

Clarence Behrens Hutchenrider ( June 13 , 1908 in Waco , Texas – August 18, 1991 in New York City ) was an American swing jazz musician ( saxophone , clarinet ) .

Hutchinrider is often misspelled.

Hutchenrider learned the clarinet at age 13 (after initially wanting to learn the saxophone) and played in dance bands in Texas. He befriended saxophonist and arranger Lyle “Spud” Murphy, played with him for 14 months in Ross Gorman ‘s band (1928) and then in violinist Austin Wiley ‘s band (1931), replacing Artie Shaw , and in Pennsylvania and Ohio toured. From 1931 to 1943 he was a member of Glen Gray ‘s Casa Loma Orchestra . He played both saxophone and clarinet (occasionally also flute, vocals) and was a soloist in the orchestra, including their theme song Smoke Rings. He also played the saxophone in addition to the clarinet (although he played no major role on that instrument in jazz history) and his baritone sax solo on I Got Rhythm of 30 December 1933 (Brunswick 6800) is considered to be probably the first extensive solo recording on that instrument [1] . Dick Sudhalter gave him a smooth, clarinet-like playing style [2] on this solo, and Gunther Schuller [3] considered it one of his best improvisations. According to Sudhalter [4] he was “undoubtedly” the leading soloist of the Casa Loma Orchestra.

According to Albert McCarthy [5], his solos were fluid and always interesting, his broad, powerful tone was partly reminiscent of Edmond Hall [6] and he could vary his phrasing widely. After Gunther Schuller [7], he was one of Casa Loma’s most popular soloists, sometimes technically erratic, but able to perform his solos with a kind of spontaneous, free-spirited energy . He later adapted to the Benny Goodman style. Jeffrey Cooper [8]noted that his clarinet playing was at its best in his many fast, urging solos in the upper register and that his thin, sometimes whispering tone was characterized by sculpting phrasing and, as early as 1931, a well-developed sense of swing. [9]

After his time at Casa Loma, he was with Jimmy Lytell in the ABC radio band until 1946 , which he had to leave due to lung disease. After that he was a freelancer in New York, who also led his own bands (such as a trio in the Gaslight Club from 1958 to 1965). He starred with Walter Davidson in the 1950s . From 1966 to 1974 he played with Bill’s Gay Nineties and he played with Vince Giordano ‘s New California Ramblers under Dick Sudhalter (1976, 1979 ) and Vince Giordano’s New Orleans Nighthawks .

He had lived in Flushing (New York) since the 1950s and continued to perform regularly in New York clubs into the 1980s. From 1982 he was a member of David Ostwald ‘s Gully Low jazz band . He was involved in 170 recording sessions from 1931 to 1985, other than those with Mildred Bailey , Pee Wee Hunt , Bobby Hackett , Bob Thiele and Warren Vaché . [10]

He was married twice and had a daughter from his first marriage.

Credits: