Woody Allen to Play with New Orleans Jazz Band in Warsaw

22 December 2008

Woody Allen

The multifaceted American film director, writer, comic and jazz clarinetist Woody Allen will perform with the New Orleans Jazz Band in Sala Kongresowa at Warsaw’s Palace of Culture on Dec. 28, announced Cultural Attaché Chuck Ashley.  Best known for his work in film and comedy, Allen took up the clarinet as a teenager and has performed regularly at small venues in New York City, where he lives.  He has occasionally appeared at jazz festivals in various cities and toured Europe in 1996.  That musical journey became the subject of the documentary film Wild Man Blues.  Allen’s association with the New Orleans jazz scene is of long standing.  He played clarinet with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the New Orleans Funeral Ragtime Orchestra in performances used in the film score for his 1973 comedy, Sleeper.  Passionate about classic New Orleans jazz from the early 20th century, Allen has played lead clarinet with the New Orleans Jazz Band for many years at a well-known Manhattan night spot in the Carlyle Hotel.