[78-L] Total Recall: Artie Shaw

[Jeff Sultanof]

Geoffrey,

Depending on the year one spoke to him, Shaw either liked some of the
Brunswicks or hated the whole lot of them, and was disgusted that some were
being reissued without anyone consulting him. He does include some on his
retrospective box on Bluebird, but I suspect that his objections dealt with
some of the songs he had to record, which he went on record to say that many
of them were sheer crap.

Yes, I love both Shaw and Goodman as well. I played the clarinet for 25
years before finally putting it down because I would rather write music and
conduct it, so I understand what each man brought to the instrument (I could
play many of their solos). I disagree about Shaw-controlled settings - he
was certainly more comfortable with more modern musical settings than
Goodman, who could not deal with altered harmonies and complex rhythms. He
played both Bartok's Contrasts and the Hindemith Clarinet Concerto once;
obviously he did not like them. He didn't bother to even play Henry Brant's
Concerto for Clarinet and Jazz Band, a delightful piece written specifically
for his 1946 big band. Technically, he may have been slightly better than
Shaw, but several black musicians went on record saying that they preferred
Shaw's sound over Goodman's, Lester Young being one such musician.

Jeff Sultanof


On Mon, Jan 25, 2010 at 5:42 PM, Geoffrey Wheeler <dialjazz at verizon.net>wrote:

>
> I totally agree that Artie Shaw would make an excellent subject for a
> biography, especially since he can’t sue anybody. During his
> presentation to the IAJR Convention, I asked him two questions
> regarding aspects of his Brunswick recordings. He ignored both and I
> don’t know why. Fortunately, I don’t have to pick between Shaw or
> Goodman as to which is my favorite: I have both to enjoy. Shaw seems to
> have been most comfortable in settings he controlled, whereas Goodman
> could improvise virtually anything on the spot with anybody.
> Geoffrey Wheeler
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