I love clarinetist Buddy DeFranco's marvelous sense of purpose. Throughout his storied career dating back to the early '40s, Buddy has always treated jazz as a cocktail—vigorously shaking ...

Virtually singlehandedly [DeFranco] has kept the clarinet alive as a jazz instrument since it fell out of fashion with the demise of the Swing Era over 50 years ago. At 83, he continues to practice on ...

PANAMA CITY, Fla. Renowned jazz clarinetist Buddy DeFranco, who led the way on his instrument in the transition between the swing and bebop eras, has died at the age of 91, his family said Friday.

Renowned jazz clarinetist Buddy DeFranco – who collaborated with Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday and other top singers and musicians of his era – has died at the age of 91, his family said Friday.

MISSOULA -- The world-famous clarinet player who lent his name to the University of Montana’s premier jazz festival and transformed the international genre through his unique bebop style passed away ...

A brilliant jazz improviser who toured with Count Basie and Billie Holiday, DeFranco devised many new paths for his instrument as small-group... Buddy DeFranco: The Clarinetist Who Swung To Bebop ...

Next week, Missoula's signature jazz festival will convene without its namesake artist, Buddy DeFranco. Often called the "Charlie Parker of the clarinet," and considered one of the few jazz masters of ...

There's perhaps no better person to pay tribute to the late Buddy DeFranco than Eddie Daniels. When he was barely a teenager, Daniels heard DeFranco's album "Mr. Clarinet," a 1953 small-group bebop ...

For the past nine years, the event has been called the Buddy DeFranco Jazz Festival to honor the celebrated jazz clarinetist. Each year DeFranco visits Missoula to collaborate with the UM jazz program ...