Louis Ford
IF I COULD GIVE YOU MORE
Louis Ford, like many traditional jazz musicians from New Orleans, has deep generational roots to the music. In fact, his father is Clarence Ford, whom we featured last week. Louis continues his father’s legacy as a celebrated clarinetist and saxophonist in his own right, performing regularly at Preservation Hall and being one of the foremost practitioners of traditional jazz today. Ford’s sound is defined by a strong classical foundation, evidenced by a clarinet tone precise and focused in the mold of the great symphonic players.
This solo comes off Harry Connick, Jr’.s 1991 multi-platinum recording, Blue Light, Red Light. The track, “If I Could Give You More”, features the front line horn section of Leroy Jones, Ford, and Jerry Weldon.
Louis’ solo is only on the bridge of the tune, but it is an excellent study into clarinet tone and outlining chords:
Ford understands the strength of triadic playing. He alternates simple arpeggios with more chromatic lines to great effect:
In the below example, he approaches the minor ii-V7 progression to G minor by playing an A diminished arpeggio over the A half-diminished 7th, a choice that works well:
Ford continues this theme when the progression returns in bar 13:
The use of the diminished 7th arpeggio gives the line a more traditional jazz flavor, rather than using scales derived from melodic minor which can be used as an alternative in modern contexts. Ford pays homage to the past but sounds completely current in the process. There is much to learn from the discipline in these choices.