Swinging and singing: How the violin speaks to us
For musician and radio producer David Schulman, the violin can swing and sing like nothing else
*Originally published on Nov. 28, 2023.
Compared to the piano with its 88 keys, the violin might appear impoverished with just four strings. But for radio producer and violinist, David Schulman, those four strings can be bowed, plucked or even strummed — and the resulting sounds can virtually "talk" to us.
This episode of IDEAS features two documentaries by Schulman, both centred on the violin.
The first is called One Tree: In Search of Stradivari's Sibling Violins. And it follows a peculiar quest he went on to Cremona, in the north of Italy. A quest to find a single tree — the one that later in its life may have been turned into one of the most famous instruments of all time: a Stradivarius.
In a way, it's like time travel, because the sounds these violins make carry us back into the past. This view may sound a bit romantic. But it turns out there's solid science behind it. As David Schulman discovered, you just have to find the right tree.
Guests in this documentary:
Fausto Cacciatori is a curator at the Museo del Violino.
Peter Ratcliff is luthier and a dendrochronologist .
Christopher Reuning is a violin expert and dealer.
Dr. Bill Sloan is a violinist and collector.
Fabrizio Von Arx is a concert violinist.
Special thanks also to Virginia Villa and Paulo Bodini at the Museo del Violino in Cremona, Italy, and to Milan-based field recordist Marco Rip.
Nobody Swung Harder: Stuff Smith
David Schulman's second documentary begins with a bootlegged recording he made decades prior while in college. The documentary is called Nobody Swung Harder: the Jazz Violin of Stuff Smith. Stuff's legal name was Hezekiah Leroy Gordon Smith, and he was one of the most influential violinists in jazz.
He recorded with towering figures like Ella Fitzgerald, Nat "King" Cole, and Oscar Peterson. Russian performer Jascha Heifetz, recognized by some as perhaps the world's greatest violinist, used to go hear Stuff Smith play in New York clubs. Stuff lived by the pleasure principle: he loved women, whiskey, and above all, music. When he died in 1967, he left behind a rich catalogue of recordings and compositions — and a few tantalizing mysteries.
Was it true, for instance, that Stuff really played a Guarnerius, a precious Italian instrument that today would be worth millions of dollars?
And — the big one — what became of his favourite violin, the one known as 'Big Red'?
Guests in this documentary:
Anthony Barnett is a scholar of Stuff Smith.
Regina Carter is a jazz violinist.
Arlene Smith is the widow of Stuff Smith.
John Smith is the grandson of Stuff Smith.
Cheryl Smith is the granddaughter of Stuff Smith.
Special thanks to Anthony Barnett for providing rare recordings heard in this broadcast, which are published — along with his books on Stuff Smith.
Listen to both of David Schulman's documentaries by downloading the IDEAS podcast from your favourite app.
*This episode produced by David Schulman, with a bit of extra help by Greg Kelly
