John LaPorta

At one time, John LaPorta appeared as if he would be among the leading clarinetists in contemporary jazz. His awesome tone and incredibly advanced design (affected by Lennie Tristano) appeared to be producing him the Lee Konitz from the clarinet. He previously played with the best rings of Bob Chester (1942-1944) and Woody Herman (1944-1946), but moreover, he documented with Lennie Tristano in 1947. LaPorta analyzed with Tristano and six years later on was area of the Jazz Composers’ Workshop with Charles Mingus and Teo Macero, wanting to bring components of traditional music into jazz. The clarinetist documented with Mingus in 1954 prior to the bassist transformed directions and LaPorta led classes for Debut, Dream, and Everest during 1954-1958. Nevertheless, John LaPorta thought we would pursue a profession as a instructor (in the Manhattan College of Music and Berklee) and performed infrequently after his exodus to acedemics. LaPorta do return to documenting in 1999 for any session that premiered under the name Life Routine. His 1956 LP, Conceptions, was re-issued by Dream with over twelve unreleased songs as Themes and Variants. A legend from the jazz vanguard and an impact on countless college students during his 40 yr teaching tenure, John LaPorta passed on in-may of 2004 at age 84.