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John LaPorte | |
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| Born | John Daniel LaPorta April 13, 1920 |
| Died | May 12, 2004 (aged 84) Sarasota, Florida, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Instrument | Clarinet |
John Daniel LaPorta (April 13, 1920 – May 12, 2004) was a jazz clarinetist and composer.
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 wasBuddy DeFranco. As a teenager he played in Philadelphia bands withCharlie Ventura andBill Harris. He studied classically with Joseph Gigliotti of thePhiladelphia Orchestra and Leon Russianoff at theManhattan School of Music.
From 1942 to 1944, he was a member of theBob Chester big band, then spent the next two years with theWoody Herman Orchestra.[1] Beginning in 1947, he studied withLennie Tristano. WithTeo Macero andCharles Mingus he was a member of theJazz Composers Workshop, trying to combine jazz with classical music.[2][3] In the classical world, he worked withBoston Pops,Leonard Bernstein,Leopold Stokowski, andIgor Stravinsky. In jazz he worked withKenny Clarke,Miles Davis,Dizzy Gillespie,Charlie Parker,Buddy Rich, andLester Young.[1]
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 titleSouth American Brothers byFantasy Records, the first jazz recording in Venezuela.
He taught at Parkway Music School, then at public schools onLong Island, followed by the Manhattan School of Music and theBerklee College of Music.[4] With guitaristJack Petersen, he pioneered the use of Greekmodes for teaching chord-scales.
In the 1990s, he and his wife retired toSarasota, Florida, 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.
WithKenny Clarke
WithCharles Mingus
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