“An artist should write for himself & not for an audience. If the audience likes it, great. If not, they can keep away.” — Artie Shaw
Never happy with the business of music or, for that matter, with bandleading and always forming and unforming bands in restless succession, clarinetist Artie Shaw was nonetheless one of the giants of the Big Band era, with a series of popular hits from 1938's "Begin The Beguine" to 1940's "Frenesi" and a lasting reputation for pursuing art over entertainment. Pete and Will Anderson look at Shaw and his work during the early, turbulent years of his career from 1936 to '41.
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| | Traffic Jam (1939) interpolated into Dancing Co-Ed Artie Shaw, Teddy McRae (m) |
| |  | Frenesí (1939) Alberto Domínguez (sp), Ray Charles (en), S. K. Russell (en) (w) Alberto Domínguez (m) |
| |  | Carioca (1933) Flying Down to Rio Gus Kahn, Edward Eliscu (w) Vincent Youmans (m) |