John Daniel LaPorta (April 13, 1920 – May 12, 2004) was a jazz clarinetist and composer.

Early life and education

A native of Philadelphia, LaPorta started playing clarinet at the age of nine and studied at the Mastbaum School in Philadelphia, where one of his classmates was

Buddy DeFranco Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco (February 17, 1923 – December 24, 2014) was an Italian-American jazz clarinetist. In addition to his work as a bandleader, DeFranco led the Glenn Miller Orchestra for almost a decade in the 1960s and ...

. As a teenager he played in Philadelphia bands with

Charlie Ventura Charlie Ventura (born Charles Venturo; December 2, 1916 – January 17, 1992) was an American tenor saxophonist and bandleader from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Career During the 1940s, Ventura played saxophone for the bands o ...

and Bill Harris. He studied classically with Joseph Gigliotti of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Leon Russianoff at the Manhattan School of Music.

Career

From 1942 to 1944, he was a member of the

Bob Chester Bob Chester (March 20, 1908 – October 29, 1966) was an American jazz and pop music bandleader and tenor saxophonist. He was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Chester's stepfather ran General Motors's Fisher Body Works. He began his ...

big band, then spent the next two years with the

Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading groups called "The Herd", Herman came to prominence in the late 1930s and was active until his dea ...

Orchestra. Beginning in 1947, he studied with

Lennie Tristano Leonard Joseph Tristano (March 19, 1919 – November 18, 1978) was an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and teacher of jazz improvisation. Tristano studied for bachelor's and master's degrees in music in Chicago before moving to New Yo ...

. With

Teo Macero Attilio Joseph "Teo" Macero (October 30, 1925 – February 19, 2008) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and record producer. He was a producer at Columbia Records for twenty years. Macero produced Miles Davis' '' Bitches Brew'', and ...

and Charles Mingus he was a member of the Jazz Composers Workshop, trying to combine jazz with classical music. In the classical world, he worked with

Boston Pops The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart. Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Sym ...

, Leonard Bernstein,

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appear ...

, and Igor Stravinsky. In jazz he worked with

Kenny Clarke Kenneth Clarke Spearman (January 9, 1914January 26, 1985), nicknamed Klook, was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. A major innovator of the bebop style of drumming, he pioneered the use of the ride cymbal to keep time rather than the hi-ha ...

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

, Dizzy Gillespie,

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

Buddy Rich Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer, songwriter, conductor, and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time. Rich was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, ...

, and

Lester Young Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist. Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most ...

. On August 12, 1956, La Porta was invited to the first jazz concert in Venezuela at Caracas National Theater, where he was backed by the Casablanca Orchestra, Charlie Nagy, Werner Boehm, Walter Albrecht, among others. During his stay in Caracas a selection of the repertoire performed at the concert was released under the title ''South American Brothers'' by

Fantasy Records Fantasy Records is an American independent record label company founded by brothers Max and Sol Stanley Weiss in 1949. The early years of the company were dedicated to issuing recordings by jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, who was also one of its invest ...

, the first jazz recording in Venezuela. He taught at Parkway Music School, then at public schools on Long Island, followed by the Manhattan School of Music and the Berklee College of Music. With guitarist Jack Petersen, he pioneered the use of Greek

modes Mode ( la, modus meaning "manner, tune, measure, due measure, rhythm, melody") may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' MO''D''E (magazine)'', a defunct U.S. women's fashion magazine * ''Mode'' magazine, a fictional fashion magazine which is ...

for teaching chord-scales.

Personal life

In the 1990s, he and his wife retired to

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sou ...

, where he performed at the Sarasota Jazz Club and as a guest with the Fred Williams Trio. He wrote his autobiography, ''Playing It by Ear''. LaPorta died from complications of a stroke on May 12, 2004 in Sarasota.

Discography

* ''The John LaPorta Quintet'' ( Debut, 1954) * ''Three Moods'' (Debut, 1955) * ''South American Brothers'' (

Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

, 1956) * ''Conceptions'' (Debut, 1956) * ''The Clarinet Artistry of John LaPorta'' (Debut, 1957) * ''Theme and Variations'' (Fantasy, 2002) With

* ''

Klook's Clique ''Klook's Clique'' is an album led by drummer Kenny Clarke recorded in 1956 and first released on the Savoy label.

'' (Savoy, 1956) With Charles Mingus * '' The Jazz Experiments of Charlie Mingus'' (Bethlehem, 1956) * '' Jazz Composers Workshop'' (Savoy, 1956)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laporta, John Hard bop clarinetists Swing clarinetists Bebop clarinetists Cool jazz clarinetists American jazz clarinetists Berklee College of Music faculty Manhattan School of Music alumni Musicians from Philadelphia 1920 births 2004 deaths 20th-century American musicians Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania