Joe Fritz

Hungarian clarinetist Joe Fritz just arrived in the USA in March 2024. In 2012 he was ranked among the top 30 jazz clarinetists in the world. His discography includes 11 solo albums as a leader and 54 as a sideman.
His trio from Orlando plays 50’s and 60’s jazz in the style of Stan Getz, Paul Desmond, Jimmy Giuffre and other great west coast jazz players.
Joe has a long past of his own in Hungarian jazz. He made his first record almost 20 years ago followed by a dozen more. He chose the clarinet under the influence of Buddy DeFranco. The clarinet is the richest tone-color among all the instruments, especially in the hand of such an artist who is a fan of the “rehabilitation” of this instrument. Joe is a master of style. All of his solos, short or long, are very carefully composed. He plays pleasant swing music, enjoyable for everybody, of the best-known American standards as well as popular Hungarian melodies or his own compositions.
Joe isn’t only a fine musician but a researcher of clarinet playing and has written about the history of the instrument in articles and record reviews for several music magazines. His foreign tours, long and short stayings abroad, helped the maturation of his style and were beneficent for his career. He spent one and a half years in America, one in Australia, and had jobs in jazz clubs which gave him experience and knowledge in music and language. He also worked with top jazz musicians all around the World, including Gyorgy Vukan, George Grosman, Travis Jenkins, Allan Vache, and Jeff Usher to name a few.