Search - Artie Shaw :: Self Portrait

Dazzling.... A rich legacy from a giant of American music

Ken Lawson | New York, USA | 01/31/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There was no one like Artie Shaw and, throughout the Swing Era and beyond, there were no sounds like those that emanated from the succession of orchestras and small groups he led. As a clarinetist, Shaw was in a class by himself - his approach to music was far different from that of his contemporaries, Benny Goodman and Woody Herman. And Shaw's bands, which he led from 1936 until 1954, were equally distinctive.



Shaw's battles with celebrity and the music business are well documented. After a meteoric rise to fame, repeated success with material that bored him and a string of temporary retirements from the performing life, Shaw walked away for good at 44 - at the pinnacle of his musical and creative powers.



He lived for exactly half a century after that, dedicating himself to other passions (with varying degrees of success) and occasionally reflecting on his career and accomplishments as a musician. Although he never played the clarinet again, Shaw made peace with the idea that he'd added a unique and lasting contribution to American music and popular culture. This 5-CD collection represents Shaw's attempt, a few years before the end of his long life, to showcase that contribution in a way that would reconcile with his legendary perfectionism.



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 listeners with a comprehensive overview of his musical career. The 95 selections were personally chosen by Shaw and assembled as "a summing-up, a retrospective of what I consider my best work regardless of label, an overview of my entire career an clarinetist-bandleader." In every way, they amount to a collection that is as unusual, eccentric and irreplaceable as Shaw himself.



Of course the set includes Shaw's timeless signature recordings: "Beguine the Beguine," "Frenesi," "Stardust," "Summit Ridge Drive" 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 Roman-candle pop tunes, mostly vocals, that Shaw was forced by his record company to wax 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.



Shaw makes his strong presence in this project felt by including exciting, little-known band performances from live radio broadcasts, which he thought often came closer to capturing his musical intent at the time. You'll hear an entirely different level of energy, drive and excitement in these selections. And you'll hear his band members (and Shaw himself) taking musical risks they would not have taken in the studio, where pressure loomed to cut a record by completing a perfect take.



As you work your way through these discs, you'll witness the Swing Era at the height of its jitterbug mania; Shaw'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 Shaw 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.



Those career-closing recordings, which went unreleased at the time, captured the musically mature Shaw with progressive young musicians (including Hank Jones and Tal Farlow) in a particularly creative and fertile period. Even now their performances sound astonishingly complex, sophisticated and fresh.



All the selections in this set are threaded, of course, by Shaw's clarinet, which is breathtaking. His ideas are framed with equal measures of imagination and discipline. His tone and style, especially as his career progressed, have a luscious liquid quality that sounds luxurious, dreamy and romantic. Shaw once stated that his approach to the clarinet was less about swing and more about musicianship. These performances bear him out. You'll hear how his solos became increasingly melodic and expressive (check out the different versions of "Stardust," recorded over a 16-year span). By the time of Shaw's final recordings, his playing is exquisitely intimate.



After he quit, Shaw mused that he'd accomplished everything possible with a clarinet. "Anything more would have been less," he said. His pronouncement may seem jarringly arrogant at first, but after listening to these discs and absorbing his many achievements, you get a sense that he was probably right.



If you're at all interested in jazz, the Swing Era, the history of American music or the career arc of a brilliant, restless creative talent, you'll want to own this set. You'll return to it again and again for the abundance of pleasures it holds.

"

Artie Shaw is a legend!

Ed Rummel | New Jersey | 01/09/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When I heard on December 30th, 2004 that Artie Shaw (AS) died at the age of 94 and that he was the last of the four top leaders of the big band era, that included Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, and Tommy Dorsey, and as a long time fan of big bands, I immediately agreed and decided to go online and learn more about AS.



His first big hit, Begin the Beguine, came out in 1938 a few month before I was born. But I never really knew about him until my clarinet-playing junior high neighbor chum played some of his dad's AS 78s for me. His favorite, Traffic Jam, became one of mine. In more recent times I picked up some cassette tapes that were re-issues of AS hit recordings. In addition to those, I have a lot of Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Stan Kenton, nearly all of Glenn Miller, and lots more.



I'm a French horn player in community concert bands and orchestras and a brass quintet. In high school I had a mediocre four-piece dance combo in which I played my French horn. In college I had an 8-piece Dixieland combo at the frat house that I organized and led.



So much for my background. I'm listening to Disc 3 of the 5-CD set right now. It's my second time through the set. I'm hearing things I didn't hear the first time. This set includes about 95 recordings that were chosen for inclusion by AS when he had just turned 91 but still had his full mental capability. It's called "self-portrait" because he chose only those selections that would put his best foot forward. And he chose the best of the available versions, giving preference to the live broadcasts over the studio recordings, for reasons you can learn by reading the great booklet.



The latter lists all the credits and includes a detailed discography and a narrative by AS, with comments intermixed from a long-time close friend and admirer of AS's who is a trumpeter and music historian. It's great reading for any fan of the big band era. I read most of the AS obituaries on the Internet. (That's how I learned about the 5-CD set.) Each had a different slant. Reading the booklet gave me yet another slant on AS and a better feel for the big band era and his playing. AS was an innovator besides being a great leader and performer. While these recordings cover the period from 1937 to 1954, the quality is quite good compared to a lot of the other big band recordings available for the big bands of that period.



I plan to share my views on AS and this set with my clarinet-playing friends, which is why I decided to write this review. I think it is significant that AS participated in the compiling and the production of this set. That is what sets it apart from similar compilations, such as "The Complete ___" and "The Best of ____" sets. While Benny Goodman lived a pretty full life, I don't think he ever participated in any project like this. And with Glenn Miller disappearing in his forties and Tommy Dorsey's dying in his fifties, they had no opportunity to do a "self portrait" either.



The last thing I'll comment on is what I consider to be the biggest reward of owning and listening the this set. It's hearing AS play the clarinet over a period of about 17 years and reading, in the booklet, about the feedback he received on his playing from Benny Goodman and some leading classical players who have contacted him. He was really good! He gave it up at the young age of 44 in 1954, saying things like he went as far as he could with it, and that he couldn't play it like he would like to. My wife heard on the radio that he may have had a problem with his teeth. Maybe so. In the booklet he mentions a dental problem in 1949 that caused him to dub a recording.



If you like big band or play the clarinet, and even if you already own some AS recordings, get this set. You wont be sorry. If you know a big band fan or a clarinet player you might consider getting this to give as a gift.



Last but not least, disc 5 is all Gramercy 5 tracks, 12 of them, that are about double the length of most of the rest of the tracks. For the most part all of the selections are in chronological order. Enjoy!

"

A Legend has passed

Wes | World Citizen, Earth | 12/31/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have always loved "big band" music. I believe it has a lot to do with the actual sound. By that I mean its archival, low-fi quality. Sadly one of the all-time greats is now gone. It would have been an incredible experience to watch masters like Shaw, Miller, and Goodman do their thing. Of all the releases put out with Shaw's name on it, this has to rank among the best, if it isn't the best already. It is loaded with dozens of classics and it comes in a cool little box. It's also available in a pared-down single highlight disc, but you don't want that. You want this one."