Artie Shaw : NPR

Five Classic Jazz Takes On 'Porgy And Bess'

Artwork for Bill Potts' 1959 album, The Jazz Soul of Porgy and Bess. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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A Blog Supreme

Five Classic Jazz Takes On 'Porgy And Bess'

WFIU

September 1, 2011 • The controversial Gershwin opera has long been an inspiration to jazz musicians. Hear five songs.

Artie Shaw displayed an impossibly round, mellow tone from the top to the bottom of the clarinet. Bettmann/Corbis hide caption

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Take Five: By Artist

Get To Know Clarinetist Artie Shaw

90.5 WESA

May 22, 2010 • Shaw displayed an impossibly round, mellow tone from the top to the bottom of the clarinet. He employed loop-de-loop breaks that were hard to finger, and equally hard to figure out. Explore Shaw's swinging musical persona of the late 1930s in five songs.

Artie Shaw At 100: Celebrating A Swing Era Sensation

Jazz clarinetist and bandleader Artie Shaw, circa 1940. He was born 100 years ago Sunday. Michael Ochs Archives/Stringer/Getty Images hide caption

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Michael Ochs Archives/Stringer/Getty Images

Music Interviews

Artie Shaw At 100: Celebrating A Swing Era Sensation

May 21, 2010 • The legendary clarinetist was born 100 years ago Sunday. Shaw was a bandleader who lit a fire under a generation of jitterbuggers. He was also an outspoken, self-taught musician who became a media idol and whose personal life drew as much attention as his music.

Artie Shaw At 100: Celebrating A Swing Era Sensation

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100 Years Of Jazz Clarinetist Artie Shaw

Artie Shaw prepares for a concert in London in 1951. John Pratt/Stringer/Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption

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John Pratt/Stringer/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Music Interviews

100 Years Of Jazz Clarinetist Artie Shaw

Fresh Air

May 19, 2010 • In the 1930s and '40s, Artie Shaw's band ranked with the Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller bands in popularity. We remembers one of jazz's greatest clarinetists with excerpts from a 1985 interview.

100 Years Of Jazz Clarinetist Artie Shaw

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Artie Shaw's ideas were often deemed too modern, and his temperament was ill-suited to the role of star. John Pratt/Keystone Features/Getty Images hide caption

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NPR's 'Jazz Profiles'

Artie Shaw: The Reluctant Jazz Star

October 9, 2008 • Shaw was the temperamental leader of some of the hottest swing bands of his era. Though he had huge hits with Begin the Beguine and Frenesi, Shaw disdained the spotlight, and his bands never lasted long.

Artie Shaw: The Reluctant Jazz Star

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New Music

Artie Shaw, an American Original

July 25, 2006 • Clarinetist, composer and bandleader Artie Shaw was a true American original. Here's Shaw's 1940 Concerto for Clarinet, in concert from the Hot Springs Music Festival in Arkansas, with soloist Richard Hawkins and the Festival Orchestra conducted by Richard Rosenberg.

Artie Shaw, an American Original

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Music Interviews

Artie Shaw Dies at 94

December 30, 2004 • Bandleader, clarinetist and arranger Artie Shaw has died at home in Los Angeles. His health had declined since Thanksgiving. He was 94. Shaw's recording of "Begin the Beguine" became so popular in 1938 that it brought him to an even footing with the other so-called "King of Swing" -- Benny Goodman. NPR's Robert Siegel has a remembrance.

Artie Shaw Dies at 94

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Music News

Smithsonian Honors Jazz Great Artie Shaw

August 28, 2003 • Legendary jazz bandleader Artie Shaw donates two of his clarinets to the Smithsonian Institution, including the instrument he used in 1938 to record his first big hit, "Begin the Beguine." Shaw received the institution's James Smithson Medal for his lifetime achievements in music. Until he retired in 1954, Shaw's fame rivaled that of Benny Goodman. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and NPR's Robert Siegel.

Smithsonian Honors Jazz Great Artie Shaw

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All Songs Considered

Artie Shaw, Cafe Tacuba, Elvis Costello

April 1, 2002 • A new collection of songs from Artie Shaw; the Hasidic New Wave's Afro-Semitic Diaspora; Buena Vista Social Club's bassist, Orlando Cachaito López and more.

Artie Shaw, Cafe Tacuba, Elvis Costello

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Music Interviews

Artie Shaw, the Reluctant 'King of Swing'

March 8, 2002 • Artie Shaw was a huge musical star during the 1930s and '40s, but the jazz clarinetist and bandleader says he didn't enjoy the glamour and fame. So he walked away from it. Shaw explains why in a Morning Edition interview with Renee Montagne.

Artie Shaw, the Reluctant 'King of Swing'

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