Artie Shaw - 'Self Portrait'

Artie Shaw, a multifaceted jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and writer, made significant contributions to the Swing Era.  His big band gained immense popularity with hits like "Begin the Beguine", "Lady Be Good" and "Frenesi".  Artie was a trailblazer in the big band genre, experimenting with unconventional instrumentation.  He also, and notably, hired Billie Holiday as his band’s vocalist, becoming the first white bandleader to employ a full-time black female singer.  During his peak popularity, Artie reportedly earned a substantial $30,000 per week, a remarkable feat during the Great Depression.

During World War II, Artie enlisted in the U.S. Navy, along with his entire band, and served in the Pacific Theater, similar to Glenn Miller’s wartime band in Europe.  Artie dedicated approximately 18 months to playing for navy personnel, often performing multiple shows daily.

Throughout his musical career, Artie took sabbaticals, temporarily leaving the music industry.  He credited his time in the navy for a period of profound introspection, leading him to pursue psychoanalysis and explore a writing career.

In 1954, Artie made a decision to cease playing the clarinet, citing his own perfectionism, which he later acknowledged as a self-destructive force.  A self-proclaimed "very difficult man", Artie was married eight times; it became a national joke to have been "Married as many times as Artie Shaw".  Among his wives were Jane Cairns, Margaret Allen, Betty Kern (daughter of songwriter Jerome Kern), author Kathleen Winsor, and actresses Ava Gardner, Lana Turner, Doris Dowling and Evelyn Keyes.

Artie faced scrutiny before the House Un-American Activities Committee, in 1953 due to his liberal political views.  The committee was investigating the World Peace Congress, which it perceived as a front for Communism.

In 2004, he was bestowed with a well-deserved lifetime achievement Grammy Award.  Artie Shaw passed away peacefully at the age of 94, leaving behind a legacy as one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time.

The first time I can remember hearing Artie Shaw was my father playing Artie’s 78’s in the late 1950s.  At the time, I was more interest in my older brother’s rock and roll record collection, than I was to my parent's music.

Ten years or so later, I was listening to Ed Beach’s ‘Just Jazz’ radio show on jazz station WRVR, here in Manhattan.  Ed’s show that night was about Third Stream Jazz, at one point he spoke of the roots of Third Stream, and played Artie Shaw’s "Interlude in B-flat", and I was blown away.



A few words about Ed Beach:
 Ed’s knowledge of Jazz was nothing short of encyclopedic.  His show, ‘Just Jazz’ was a five-hour show that ran on Saturdays from 7 o'clock to midnight, without commercial interruption.  After every record he played he gave the date of its issue, the label and the participating artists.  There were also running gags and inside jokes for regular listeners.  Most things I know that are worth knowing about the history of Jazz, I learnt from Ed Beach.

But I digress…

Johnny Depp while playing John Dillinger in the film, 'Public Enemies', played Artie's drama-filled 1938 recording of "Nightmare", in order to get in character.  As Johnny tells it:                                    

"Because when you listen to that song, it can be applied to almost every scene. Music always helps me. It's in every conversation we have every day. There's always some sort of soundtrack going on, whether it's the beeping of horns outs or the shuffling of papers, so yeah, I try and keep music going at all times."

Conceived and issued in 2001 with Shaw's full involvement and collaboration, 'Self-Portrait' brings together performances by every one of his recorded bands, and provides us with a thorough overview of his musical career.  This 5 CD set has 95 selections personally chosen and assembled by Artie Shaw, which he describes in the liner notes as:

"A summing-up, a retrospective of what I consider my best work regardless of label, an overview of my entire career as a clarinetist-bandleader." 

The set has a very nice 79-page book (included in the freeload) with discography, rare photos, and liner notes from historian Richard Sudhalter and Artie Shaw himself.

As you work your way through these discs, you'll witness the Swing Era at the height of its jitterbug mania; Artie's's progression to lush, shimmering orchestrations with strings; his small combos later probing the more complex harmonics of early be-bop; an acclaimed, modern-sounding 1949 orchestra that Artie loved, but the public hated; and, finally, some of the most intricate, emotional small-group jazz that Shaw produced with his last band, the final aggregate of his Gramercy Five that delivers you to the doorstep of the contemporary jazz era.

Of course the set includes Shaw's timeless signature recordings: "Beguine the Beguine", "Frenesi", "Stardust", "Summit Ridge Drive", "Nightmare" and others, which are by all standards models not only of the band he was leading at the moment, but of the musical genre of their type.  Conspicuously and deliberately missing, though, are the dozens of pop tunes, mostly vocals, that Artie was forced by his record company to record for commercial reasons. (His popular collaboration with singer Helen Forrest is completely absent.)  The few vocals that are included here stand as milestone recordings, with singers like Billie Holiday, Hot Lips Page and Mel Torme.

His music continues to captivate audiences and is considered some of the finest jazz of its genre.

For the freeload, tell us what music did your parents play, that as a child you didn't like, but came to appreciate later on?