Watch This: Oran Etkin “Wake Up, Clarinet”

Posted by Jeff on August 13, 2010 at 3:23 pm

Not many kid’s musicians can sling quotes from Harvey Keitel, Naomi Watts, Ken Burns, Edie Falco and Liev Schreiber.

Oran Etkin though, thanks to his stature in the jazz community and, more specifically, his Timbalooloo music classes in New York City, can. His reputation as a clarinet master seems well-earned, even to these untrained ears. OWTK caught his live show earlier this year at Philly’s Please Touch Museum in celebration of jazz month and of the release of Putumayo Kids Jazz Playground, an album Etkin is featured on and one I reviewed in the pages of Time Out New York Kids (February ’10 issue). I came away very impressed with not just the music, but with how he presents jazz sounds, rhythms, instrumentation, and concepts to young children. Etkin’s approach is simultaneously playful and skillful, educational and passionate; he is rather remarkable and his entrance into the kid’s music space is more than welcome.

Oran Etkin’s 1st full length kid’s jazz album, “Wake Up, Clarinet” (stellar cover art above), is due out September 14th. Preview all the tracks from the album here and check out the live concert video of the title track, recording at the Scholastic Store in NYC this past March:

If you get the chance, do try and see one of the following “Wake Up, Clarinet” CD release family concerts (more info on all of Oran Etkin’s gigs here):