Artie Shaw – bandleader, clarinetist and arranger – died at home in Los Angeles on Thursday. He was 94. His health had declined since Thanksgiving.
Shaw's recording of ‘Begin the Beguine’ became so popular in 1938 that it brought him on par with the king of swing - Benny Goodman.
Shaw was an innovator as well as a hit maker. He was one of the first white bandleaders to hire black musicians, and his orchestral compositions won him respect in the classical music world.
Shaw put down the clarinet in 1954 and never played it again, saying he could not reach the level of artistry he desired.
Solid Shaw
Artie Shaw was swing-era’s most daring bandleader. Over the course of his short career, he formed ten orchestras, disbanding most of them after only a few months.
Shaw was born in New York City and raised in Connecticut. He took up the saxophone at an early age and began playing professionally when he was only 14. At age 16, he went to Cleveland, where he spent three years playing in local groups, including that of Austin Wylie.
In 1929, Shaw joined Irving Aaronson's Commanders and moved to New York where he freelanced with many of the top bandleaders of the day, including Vincent Lopez, Red Nichols and Teddy Wilson, briefly spending time with Fred Rich's orchestra and touring with Roger Wolfe Kahn.
In 1934, Shaw quit the music scene for the first and tried his hand at being a writer. But he soon returned to New York and took up studio work again. In 1935, he was asked to lead a small group during intermissions at a swing concert held by the Imperial Theater. He put together an unusual outfit consisting of a string quartet, a rhythm section minus piano, and his clarinet. Shaw's unique combination was wildly received by the audience.
In 1936, he debut his first dance band, which featured a Dixieland approach and a string quartet. But Shaw disbanded it the following year and formed a more conventional big band.
His new outfit was a huge success. In September of 1938, Shaw collapsed on stage and was absent from the band in the summer of 1939 due to illness. He then returned from Mexico to the US two months later and formed a 32-piece studio orchestra which recorded his famous version of 'Frenesi'. Later in the year, he formed a new orchestra of his own that included the now famous Gramercy Five.
In early 1941, he formed another group. Vocalists included Bonnie Lake, Paula Kelly and Fredda Gibson. He also disbanded this group soon after starting it, in January of 1942.
In April, he joined the Navy. But the strain soon got to him and he was medically discharged in November 1943.
By fall of 1944, Shaw's health had recovered and he formed a new civilian band, which included Conniff, Barney Kessel, Roy Eldridge, and Dodo Marmarosa. By 1947, he had quit that group and taken up the study of classical clarinet, playing performances and recording an album. In 1949, Shaw formed a bop orchestra. He again quit the music industry in 1951 and retired to a farm, where he wrote his autobiography.
In 1954, he returned briefly to music. He has spent the rest of his life doing various concerns, writing and working briefly as a film distributor and a gun expert. He moved to Spain in 1955, to Connecticut in 1960, and to Southern California in 1973. In the eighties, he formed a new orchestra for special concerts. The 1985 film documentary “Time Is All You've Got” traced his career in some detail.
He was married eight times, his wives includes movie stars Ava Gardner and Lana Turner.
