Artie Shaw( Arthur Jacob Arshawsky ) 83 songs in total ※ Mojim.com Lyrics

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Artie Shaw( Arthur Jacob Arshawsky )【 83 songs in total 】

Artie Shaw (born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky; May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004) was an American clarinetist, composer, bandleader, and actor. Also an author, Shaw wrote both fiction and non-fiction.

Widely regarded as 'one of jazz's finest clarinetists,' Shaw led one of the United States' most popular big bands in the late 1930s through the early 1940s. Though he had numerous hit records, he was perhaps best known for his 1938 recording of Cole Porter's 'Begin the Beguine.' Prior to the release of 'Beguine,' Shaw and his fledgling band had languished in relative obscurity for over two years and, after its release, he became a major pop artist within short order. The record eventually became one of the era's defining recordings. Musically restless, Shaw was also an early proponent of what became known much later as Third Stream music, which blended elements of classical and jazz forms and traditions. His music influenced other musicians, such as John Barry in England, with the vamp of the James Bond Theme, possibly influenced by 'Nightmare,' which also has a similar vamp to Kurt Weill's 'Lonely House.'

Shaw also recorded with small jazz groups drawn from within the ranks of the various big bands he led. He served in the US Navy from 1942 to 1944, (during which time he led a morale-building band that toured the South Pacific amidst the chaos of World War II) and, following his discharge in 1944, he returned to lead a band through 1945. Following the breakup of that band, he began to focus on other interests and gradually withdrew from the world of being a professional musician and major celebrity, although he remained a force in popular music and jazz before retiring from music completely in 1954.

Early life

Born in New York City, Arthur Jacob Arshawsky was the son of Sarah (née Strauss) and Harry Arshawsky, a dressmaker and photographer. The family was Jewish; his father was from Russia, his mother from Austria. Shaw grew up in New Haven, Connecticut where his natural introversion was deepened by local antisemitism. Shaw bought a saxophone by working in a grocery store, and began learning the saxophone at 13; by 16, he switched to the clarinet and left home to tour with a band. Returning to New York, he became a session musician through the early 1930s. From 1925 until 1936, Shaw performed with many bands and orchestras; from 1926 to 1929, he worked in Cleveland and established a lasting reputation as music director and arranger for an orchestra led by the violinist Austin Wylie. In 1929 and 1930, he played with Irving Aaronson's Commanders, where he was exposed to symphonic music, which he would later incorporate in his arrangements.

In 1935, Shaw first gained attention with his 'Interlude in B-flat' at a swing concert at the Imperial Theater in New York. During the swing era, his big bands were popular with hits like 'Begin the Beguine' (1938), 'Stardust' (with a trumpet solo by Billy Butterfield), 'Back Bay Shuffle,' 'Moonglow,' 'Rosalie' and 'Frenesi.' The show was well received, but forced to dissolve in 1937 because his band's sound was not commercial. He was an innovator in the big band idiom, using unusual instrumentation; 'Interlude in B-flat,' where he was backed with only a rhythm section and a string quartet, was one of the earliest examples of what would be later dubbed Third Stream. His incorporation of stringed instruments could be attributed to the influence of classical composer Igor Stravinsky.

In addition to hiring Buddy Rich, he signed Billie Holiday as his band's vocalist in 1938, becoming the first white band leader to hire a full-time black female singer to tour the segregated Southern U.S. However, after recording 'Any Old Time,' Holiday left the band due to hostility from audiences in the South, as well as from music company executives who wanted a more 'mainstream' singer. Shaw's band became enormously successful, and his playing was eventually recognized as equal to that of Benny Goodman. Longtime Duke Ellington clarinetist Barney Bigard cited Shaw as his favorite clarinet player. In response to Goodman's nickname, the 'King of Swing,' Shaw's fans dubbed him the 'King of the Clarinet.' Shaw felt the titles should be reversed. 'Benny Goodman played clarinet. I played music,' he said. In 1938, Down Beat magazine readers voted Artie Shaw's the best swing band.

Shaw was a serious artist. He valued experimental and innovative music rather than generic dance and love songs, despite an extremely successful career that sold more than 100 million records. He fused jazz with classical music by adding strings to his arrangements, experimented with bebop, and formed 'chamber jazz' groups that used novel sounds, such as harpsichords or Afro-Cuban music.

Like his main rival, Benny Goodman, and other leaders of big bands, Shaw fashioned a smaller 'band within the band' in 1940. He named it Artie Shaw and the Gramercy Five, after his home telephone exchange. Band pianist Johnny Guarnieri played a harpsichord on the quintet recordings, and Al Hendrickson played an electric guitar, unusual in jazz recordings of the time. Trumpeter Roy Eldridge later became part of the group, succeeding Billy Butterfield. In 1940, the original Gramercy Five pressed eight records, then Shaw dissolved the band in early 1941. The Gramercy Five's biggest hit was 'Summit Ridge Drive,' one of Shaw's million-selling singles. In 1990, a compact disc collection of The Complete Gramercy Five sessions was released.

His last prewar band, organized in September 1941, included Oran 'Hot Lips' Page, Max Kaminsky, Georgie Auld, and Guarnieri.

The long series of musical groups Shaw formed included such talents as vocalists Billie Holiday, Helen Forrest, and Mel Tormé, drummers Buddy Rich and Dave Tough, guitarists Barney Kessel, Jimmy Raney, and Tal Farlow, pianist Dodo Mamarosa, and trombonist-arranger Ray Conniff, among countless others. He used the haunting, morose 'Nightmare,' with its Hasidic nuances, as his 'theme' tune, rather than choosing a more 'accessible' song. In a televised interview in the 1970s, Shaw derided the often 'asinine' songs, created in the song mills of Tin Pan Alley, that were the lifeblood of popular music of the period, and which bands, especially the most popular (i.e., his own) were compelled to play night after night. In 1994, he told Frank Prial (The New York Times), 'I thought that because I was Artie Shaw I could do what I wanted, but all they wanted was 'Begin the Beguine.' '

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　 Song Lyricist Composer Date

1 Accentuate the Positive 　　　

2 Afraid to Dream (Remastered) 　　　

3 All God's Chillun Got Rhythm 　　　

4 All The Things You Are (Digitally Remastered) 　　　

5 All the Things You Are (Live) 　　　

6 All the things you are (Remastered) 　　　

7 All The Things You Are 　　　

8 Along the Navajo Trail (Live) 　　　

9 Any Old Time 　　　

10 April in Paris (Remastered) 　　　