Shaw, Concerto for Clarinet

Artie Shaw (1910-2004) was one of most famous and successful “big band” leaders of the 1930s and 1940s, along with Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, and Glenn Miller.

His proficiency on saxophone and clarinet landed him a job as a studio musician in New York at the age of 20. Studio musicians, who often remain anonymous, are hired for their ability to perform perfectly on the first take. A producer footing the bills for a recording session can’t afford on-the-job training.

Before that, Shaw had already joined Irving Aaronson‘s band in Hollywood. The conservatory-trained Aaronson introduced Shaw the repertoire of Stravinsky, Ravel, Bartok and other “classical” composers who exerted an influence on American jazz.

And before that, he had already become the arranger for another Big Band in Cleveland.

Shaw became famous in 1934 when, as the warm-up act for Tommy Dorsey, he stole the show with a short piece he wrote called Interlude in B-flat. It combined a string quartet with a jazz rhythm section and solo clarinet. Shortly after came his hit recording of Cole Porter’s Begin the Beguine.

Classical influences remained important in Shaw’s music. He would score jazz works for large orchestras. His arrangement of Frenesi even has a French Horn solo. Shaw also performed the works of both classical and jazz composers as solo clarinetist with many of the major symphony orchestras.

The Concerto for Clarinet was written for the 1940 film Second Chorus, starring Fred Astaire, Paulette Goddard, and Artie Shaw himself.