Collection: ARTIE SHAW: THE JAZZ HERITAGE SOCIETY RECORDINGS

Artie Shaw was an American clarinetist and popular bandleader of the 1930s and ’40s. He was one of the few outstanding jazz musicians whose commitment to jazz was uncertain.

The musicianship is of such a high order that there can be no wonder why Shaw's was among the top bands of the Swing Era — and no wonder why no one can quite make music like it today. At some point, even Shaw himself quit playing that way, and in fact quit playing altogether. He retired his clarinet in the mid-1950s. In a 1994 New York Times article, Shaw said, "I did all you can do with a clarinet... any more would have been less."