A pianist and singer, the Copeland Oaks resident has been taking clarinet lessons from 12-year-old Holly Broadway. In return, Spalding has been teaching the seventh grader how to play the piano.

Benny Goodman's National Museum of American History clarinet was crafted in the workshops of the legendary Parisian woodwinds manufacturer Buffet Crampon in 1967.

Since the end of the big band era, the clarinet has taken a backseat to the sexier saxophone. But in the Bay Area, the oft-overlooked instrument is having a moment.

Mitchell Lurie, a world-renowned clarinetist and clarinet teacher who taught for many years at USC and the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, has died.