Any Artie Shaw fans?

[mmilovan]

Just want to share my thoughts about this great man! From the very beginning of his career to the moment when he dropped his stick, he produced very enjoyable music. This is not to tell about his big band sides only, but his Gramercy Five band (and other small bands as well), his early playing with Wilson behind Billie and few others, and his late career when he was caught by then avant-garde wave.

There are so many beautiful takes, and his nice feeling for bringing strings together with swing band must not be forgotten!

Long live Artie! B)

Edited March 3, 2004 by mmilovan

[couw]

The first Shaw I picked up was a japanese issue of this 2CD set. Wonderful stuff in many respects. I still haven't got around to invest more time and money in the man and his music. I have been playing these disks, though!

[FrancoisD]

I LOVE Artie Shaw's music! I have often wondered why he has been so much neglected in jazz histories. Maybe that's just because he happened to be too popular in his heyday. All his orchestras have always been the epitome of taste, musicality and intonation (his sax section, in particular, was really something to hear!). As for his clarinet playing, it was simply unique. The tone he got from his instrument has never been equalled IMHO, especially in the middle phase of his career (1938-46). Later, he adopted a thinner, colder tone that was a far cry from what he'd played before, but still retained a unique quality. He also pioneered integration of Negro musicians in white bands, by hiring Billie Holiday in 1938, and then Hot Lips Page, Roy Eldridge and others...

I have gathered a near-complete collection of his records, and listen to them often, thirty-five years after discovering this wonderful musician on a BBC programme.

[king ubu]

Milan, you're the best in hooking others to some musician

What would you say, it the Self Portrait box a good way to get acquainted with Shaw? Or is this a set to get rid of as soon as one becomes really involved?

ubu

[mmilovan]

Well, I saw that set in local store, but it was expensive.

Flurin, you are absolutely right - in moment when you dig your next artist, it is time to get ALL he ever recorded. Record companies know that also.

I was hooked to Shaw's music some 15 years ago, and I have his band and Gramercy on bunch of vinyls and CDs.

Apart from what has been said about Shaw, it is very interesting to listen to his second "string and brass" band. Some parts of charts are arranged just Ray Coniff did some 20 years later for his band. And Coniff played third trombone in Shaw big band, back in 1941!

I am refering to "I Cover The Waterfront" Jan, 23, 1941.

Gee, they sound like Coniff, yeah... in that third or fourth chorus!

Or to be more precise: Coniff sounds just like he used to sound way back in 1940's!

Edited March 4, 2004 by mmilovan

[catesta]

Count me in as an Artie Shaw fan.

[John L]

Milan, you're the best in hooking others to some musician

What would you say, it the Self Portrait box a good way to get acquainted with Shaw? Or is this a set to get rid of as soon as one becomes really involved?

ubu

I bought the single disk "Best of" from the Self Portrait box. It is so damn good that I am kicking myself that I didn't take the full plunge. I inevitably will.

[BruceH]

Count me as a fan also. Some of my favorite Shaw is on the above-pictured "Last Recordings" compilation, and a 2-CD followup called "MORE Last Recordings"---has a b&w cover where he looks like he just got his head shaved. (!!) The music is terrific though; I'm not near my collection, but I believe it includes Hank Jones and Tal Farlow. Just amazingly musical small-band stuff.

[LAL]

I started off with the "King of The Clarinet" (Hindsight) box then went for the Classics some time later. As usual, Classics' sound is not great but at least it collects most if not all the studio recordings. If you anticipate digging Artie Shaw's music and are not too concerned with sound (or that royalties are not paid), then this is probably the place to start, IMO.

Btw, I suggested to Mosaic a few years back that they do an Artie Shaw set and they replied that they tried but couldn't as quote "Artie is a difficult person to deal with" unquote. Perhaps, he wanted to have only those songs which he feels/felt are the 'best' released rather than a complete of everything - hence the "Self Portrait" set, rather than a Mosaic, just a hunch.

[brownie]

I would say the Chronogical Classics are the way to go with Artie Shaw. They have reissued all the official sides (and some more) and have now reached the year 1946.

OK the sound could be slightly better but if you want to hear what the Shaw band produced, Classics are very highly recommended.

The newest one (1946) is the eleventh in the Artie Shaw series.

[clandy44]

I'm an Artie fan too. Self Portrait is a terrific set and should be in every Shaw fan's collection. I enjoy his last recordings (both of them) but also love his mid to late 30s stuff. Too bad he found difficulty in dealing with fandom nad therefore did not record prolifically.

[ghost of miles]

HUGE Shaw fan here--in fact, this thread's timing is great, as I just took down SELF-PORTRAIT and began listening to it again just the other night. If you can find it in the $50-60 range, by all means get it. Great overview of Shaw's entire career. KING OF THE CLARINET is a wonderful Hindsight set of Shaw live on the radio circa 1938-39, 3 CDs and usually quite affordable... Hep has also put out some great Shaw titles, including EVENSONG, which features the early 1940s band that was frequently supplemented with strings, and 1944-45, a 3-CD set that extensively documents one of Shaw's underappreciated (IMO) big bands.

Richard Sudhalter has a good chapter on Shaw in LOST CHORDS. Mosaic's quote doesn't surprise me; I think Artie would be very reluctant to entertain thoughts of a complete anything from his career--he has some pretty withering things to say about some of the material that he recorded. I have some friends who have the Complete Bluebird/Victor LP sets that were issued in the 1970s, and they swear by them... doubt we'll hear them on CD anytime soon, however.

[neveronfriday]

One of my favorite jazz tunes (it's been on my top ten list since the 1970's) is Artie Shaw's "Special Delivery Stomp". I've had this recording ever since I was a teenager and have played it literally thousands of times in way over 20 years. It's just one of the catchiest and most swinging tunes I have. Man, I love that tune. Never get tired of it.

I guess that makes me a fan.

Definitely.

Edited March 4, 2004 by deus62

[catesta]

I came across this pic online today.

Front row: Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Artie Shaw, Les Paul. Back row: Illinois Jacquet, Tommy Dorsey, Ziggy Elman, Buddy Rich on drums, bassist unknown.

[catesta]

[Chrome]

I came across this pic online today.

Front row: Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Artie Shaw, Les Paul. Back row: Illinois Jacquet, Tommy Dorsey, Ziggy Elman, Buddy Rich on drums, bassist unknown.

I didn't realize Basie played the vibes ... or is he just goofing around here?

[BERIGAN]

I came across this pic online today.

Front row: Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Artie Shaw, Les Paul. Back row: Illinois Jacquet, Tommy Dorsey, Ziggy Elman, Buddy Rich on drums, bassist unknown.

Wow, three of them are still alive as well!

[BERIGAN]

Kind of Dark, but that is Chick Webb on Drums, right???

[couw]

that's actually left

but yes, that's Webb

[Christiern]

This, of course, was among Artie's greatest performances....

[MartyJazz]

Many people have documented how difficult a man Artie Shaw can be, e.g., Gene Lees. However, a good friend of mine, Vladimir Simosko, was able to write a biodiscography of Shaw (Scarecrow Press) for which Artie cooperated quite a great deal. Vlad sent me photos of him with Shaw at the latter's home (envy, envy). The book is great, but quite pricey ($75).

On another note, you can go to Shaw's website (www.artieshaw.com) and order a wonderful 3 CD set of the complete recordings (RCA and Musicraft) of the 1944-45 band (i.e., the band with Eldridge, Marmarosa, Kessel, etc.) for $45. Highly recommended, as for my taste (and I'm pretty much a Shaw completist), this band was terrific with forward looking excellent arrangements to match.

[Larry Kart]

The 1949 Shaw band arguably was his best, with an incredible sax section (Herbie Steward, Frank Socolow, alto; Al Cohn, Zoot Sims; tenor, Danny Bank; baritone) plus Don Fagerquist, Jimmy Raney, charts by Johnny Mandel, George Russell, Tadd Dameron et al, and Shaw in peak modern form, having assimilated as much of bop as he needed to or should. If it's still available, look for the MusicMasters CD "1949."

Shaw played like an angel, but that documentary film about him that came out in the mid-1980s I think made quite clear what I'd long suspected -- that Shaw is one of the all-time narcissistic jerks. This came through all the more vividly because the approach of the filmmakers was total adulation; without intending to do so, they gave Artie all the rope he needed to hang himself. That a man like that could make the music he did -- go figure.

[JSngry]

I find it interesting (although I can't quite say how) that the "split" of fans between "who do ya' like better - Shaw or Goodman?", a split which is usually pretty revealing (Ray Charles came out for Shaw in his autobiography) got replayed on the same instrument a decade or so later between fans of Tony Scott & Buddy DeFranco.

For the record, I'm with Shaw & Scott, and it's not too terribly close in either case.

[garthsj]

.

For the record, I love all four, and aggressively collect both DeFranco and Scott. These musicians were all trying to do something different ... and each made an important contribution. They are very different in style, but not quality ...

Garth,

Houston.

[Larry Kart]

There is (or used to be) another CD of the '49 Shaw band, radio transcriptions, on an English label, Prism. It's at least as good as the MusicMasters "1949" and duplicates only a few pieces. One of the new ones, "He's Funny That Way," featuring the band's very musical girl singer Pat Lockwood, is absolutely hallucinatory -- worthy of Gil Evans but in a style all its own and one that I don't recognize. I'd love to know who wrote that chart. Only problem is that Prism is (or was) a cheapo label, and after I played my copy once, several tracks stuck or refused to play.