Buddy DeFranco's first influence

Now, a Jazz Moment...

MUSIC: "Who?" CD: This is Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra, v.1, Collectables COL-2815 DRC1-2910 (cut 8)

Buddy DeFranco: I heard Tommy Dorsey's band at the Earle Theater in Philadelphia. My brother and I used to go to the theater and we'd stay sometimes on a Saturday we'd stay forfive shows, all day -- it was just a couple of dollars or a dollar or something like that.

NEA Jazz Master Buddy DeFranco recalls one of his most memorable musical experiences from childhood...

Buddy DeFranco: It was the Tommy Dorsey Band and he featured a clarinet player by the name of Johnny Mince and I was really taken by the way Johnny Mince played his solos. And it kind of made me decide that that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to play jazz on the clarinet.

MUSIC: "This Can't Be Love" CD: The Tatum Group Masterpieces, v.7 with Buddy DeFranco, Pablo PACD 2405-430-2 (cut 2)

This Jazz Moment With Clarinetist Buddy DeFranco was produced by the National Endowment for the Arts.