Today we’d like to introduce you to Tony Balluff
Hi Tony, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I am Minneapolis born and raised, and have lived here my whole life. I began learning clarinet at age eight and received classical training, performing in concert bands and orchestras. But even at a young age my curiosity for how the clarinet sounded in jazz began to overtake me, and I kept pursuing opportunities in that direction. It wasn’t until I turned thirty and met my jazz mentors that the world of jazz was truly opened to me. The Hall Brothers Jazz Band are Minnesota traditional jazz legends, performing for over fifty years starting in the late 1950s. Members of that band took me under their collective wings and gave me an education never to be found in a formal institution. Because of them, I know I will be playing this music for the rest of my life.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I work in a genre of music that had its heyday in the 1920s through the ’40s. That means some of the repertoire I perform is now a century old! Not being the first, or even the fifth, choice of music a majority of the listening public would choose can make the road long and hard. There is a stereotypical disbelief that someone like me even exists. My coleader often makes the joke when he introduces me on the bandstand, “Imagine that! He’s hustling to make his living playing jazz clarinet in the 21st century!”
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a professional clarinetist and lead several bands performing music of the Jazz Age, the 1920s through the ’40s — as well as a composer of original jazz in that style.
I lead a sextet named Southside Aces that plays everything from Jelly Roll Morton and Fats Waller to Preservation Hall and Fats Domino. A quintet named the Boat Note Five, dedicated to the music of Louis Armstrong. A trio called The Pick-A-Rib Three focused on the music of Benny Goodman. I am also director of an annual festival called Jazz Age Rumpus that puts a spotlight on the music of the Jazz Age, where this year I will be debuting a new band called Tony Balluff and the Four A.M. Orchestra, featuring the early music of Duke Ellington.
How do you define success?
In New Orleans, traditional jazz is a music “furnished for all occasions.” I truly believe in its ability to bring joy and exuberance to the celebrations of life, and to bring solace at the end of life. That it translates to our 21st century ears and hearts. I love to play a show for a full room at the Dakota. For sure that is one definition of success. But the music I’m priveleged to play can be interwoven into all the different functions of a life, from sending a happy couple down the aisle, to helping a family give a sendoff to a loved one who has passed on. Those moments, to me, are when I feel real success.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.southsideaces.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/southsideaces
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/southsideaces/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@checkercab72
