Today we have a centenary to celebrate! For 100 years ago today one of the most influential musicians in living memory was born - the magnificent Artie Shaw!
His appeared to be a charmed life. A shy Jewish teenager growing in the narrow-minded backwoods of Connecticut, he turned to music as an escape mechanism - and escape he did, at the age of sixteen, to New York!
Not only did the young prodigy join a number of big bands of the day, but, tired of playing second fiddle he founded his own, and it was his own innovative arrangements of monster swing hits such as Begin the Beguine, Stardust, Moonglow and Frenesi that really brought him huge success and attention.
He hired Billie Holiday as a singer (a first for a white band to have a black singer) - much to the disapproval of the segregationists of the South. He worked with singers such as Mel Torme and musicians like Buddy Rich started with Artie. His fame rivalled that of Benny Goodman, his radio shows reached millions of people, and by the time of WW2 he was selling millions of records - rumour has it that at the height of his fame in the post-war era he earned $60,000 a week!
Fame brings admirers, too, of course - and with his dapper good looks and impeccable style, Artie attracted the best. He married eight times - among them two of the most desirable women in the world, Lana Turner and Ava Gardner! A charmed life indeed - and he lived till he was 94... We love Artie Shaw!
To provide a small example of his genius, here's Mr Shaw's instructions on how to build a swing orchestra in easy stages...
And here are a couple of examples of why Mr Shaw was just so great:
This, of course, was his finest hour...
Artie Shaw biography
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