Artie Shaw Biography, Photos and Posters

Artie Shaw

Biography

Born: May 23, 1910
Hometown: New York, New York
Instrument: Clarinet
Music Training: Home schooled; Willie "the Lion" Smith
Bands and Orchestras: Austin Wylie
Signature Song: "Little Jazz"
Artie Shaw biography: Artie Shaw was raised in New Haven Connecticut. When he was just 16 years of age he joined Johnny Cavallaro's dance band as an alto saxophonist. While touring with the band he began learning the clarinet which would become his signature instrument. From 1926-29 he established a lasting reputation as a music director while working with the Austin Wylie orchestra in Cleveland. In 1929 he played tenor sax with the Irving Aronson band in Chicago where he became interested in the work of Debussy and Stravinsky. Later that year he travelled to New York with Aronson where he worked as a freelance studio musician thru 1935. In 1936 he formed his first group an unorthodoxed combo for a concert at the Imperial Theater. The group consisting of a string quartet, 3 rhythym instruments and a clarinet created quite a stir in the music world with its rendition of his chamber composition "Interlude in B Flat." He added brass, a sax and a lead singer to the group, but the group was forced to disband due to public indifference to their unusual style. He soon formed a more conventional swing band which for a time included vocalist Billie Holiday. The group recorded its first hit record in 1938, Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine." In 1940, he found work in Hollywood for the picture Second Chorus and recorded his next big hit "Frenesi" using a large studio orchestra. He toured with the orchestra for a while, but then distilled from it a new group known a s the Gramercy Five with whom he recorded his own composition "Summit Ridge Drive." In spite of critical acclaim he once again disbanded and moved to New York where he formed a new band in 1941. After enlisting in the Navy he performed for the troops with yet another band. After his discharge he formed a jazz band in 1944 and recorded "Little Jazz" in 1945 with Ray Eldridge. For the next decade Shaw toured with 2 different bands and performed at Carnegie Hall before retiring in 1954. In 1983 he returned to the music business organizing a new band. Although not as popular as Benny Goodman there are many who considered him to be technically superior to his main competitor.
Died: December 30th, 2004

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