Bernard Shaw's Marriages And Misalliances (bernard Shaw And His Contemporaries)

Volume 16 in the Classics Artie Shaw chronology covers a time line from January 30 1951 to March of 1954, combining ten of his excellent latter-day Gramercy Five recordings with 11 performances by what is now recognized as his last big band. The ensembles used on the sessions that took place in July of 1953 were positively gargantuan, with the group that was squeezed into the studio on July 2 weighing in as Brobdingnagian: 20 pieces + 17 string players = 37 musicians, a jazz orchestra monstrous enough to have handled one of Stan Kenton's Innovations charts, although the arrangements used here were so sugary as to suggest instead a Jackie Gleason midnight cocktail lounge set…

In the summer of 1941, Artie Shaw organized yet another big band, his fourth in five years. This particular ensemble was one of his most fun groups, featuring trumpeter/singer Hot Lips Page, trombonist Jack Jenney, tenor saxophonist Georgie Auld, pianist Johnny Guarnieri, drummer Dave Tough, and a full string section with some arrangements by trombonist Ray Conniff. All but the last six recordings of this big band are on this CD, including "Blues in the Night," the adventurous "Nocturne," "Take Your Shoes off, Baby," "Just Kiddin' Around," "Dusk," and the two-part "St. James Infirmary." The music alternates between swing, Hot Lips Page features, and classical-oriented works, succeeding on all levels. But shortly after Pearl Harbor, Artie Shaw called it quits again, enlisting in the navy.

One of jazz's finest clarinetists, Artie Shaw never seemed fully satisfied with his musical life, constantly breaking up successful bands and running away from success. While Count Basie and Duke Ellington were satisfied to lead just one orchestra during the swing era, and Benny Goodman (due to illness) had two, Shaw led five, all of them distinctive and memorable.