Artie Shaw: "1949" - Previously Unreleased Recordings

Artie Shaw
with The Artie Shaw Orchestra

1 Krazy Kat 03:24

2 I Cover The Waterfront 03:18

3 Fred's Delight 04:13

4 Stardust 03:45

5 Aesop's Foibles 03:47

6 Orinoco 02:45

7 They Can't Take That Away From Me 02:58

8 Smooth 'n Easy 03:26

9 I Get A Kick Out Of You 03:31

10 Afro-Cubana 03:48

11 So Easy 03:27

12 'S Wonderful 03:06

13 Innuendo 04:36

14 Similau 03:32

15 Carnival 03:12

16 Mucho De Nada 03:49

Artie Shaw and His Orchestra 1949 liner notes

The late 1940s was the worst of times for the big bands. With the exception of Ellington and a few others, virtually all the major jazz orchestras had broken up. Some regrouped after a while, but some didn't. Artie Shaw had been out of the picture since late 1946, when he left the band business to study music and perform classical and modern works with symphony orchestras. The answer was always no when the inevitable question was asked: "Will you ever have another band?" While in Rochester, New York for a concert, Shaw was asked about bebop music. He replied: "I hate the categories we insist upon fitting things into. I don't know what you mean by bebop. If you mean the music played by, for instance, Dizzy Gillespie and his group, that's fine music. It has a force and intensity of feeling." Throughout his various careers, Artie Shaw has relished challenges, and modern jazz was one he was to conquer. The new music of the 1940s caused problems for most jazzmen of earlier generations. Many couldn't hear the new harmonies, intervals, or rhythmic subtlety, and responded by either bad-mouthing it or ignoring it. But there was also a group of established players who either embraced it, or at least were comfortable enough to respond to some of the challenges. In the last group would be Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Lester Young, Mary Lou Williams, Sid Catlett, Benny Carter, Count Basie, Dave Tough, and Duke Ellington. Most of them had actually anticipated qualities of the new music in their work of the preceding decade. One name that must be added to this list is Artie Shaw; however, unlike the others, he has not been adequately regarded as the forward-looking and fresh improvisor that he was. Once he attained superstardom as a bandleader, most of the jazz "purists" stopped taking him seriously. After all, he couldn't sell all those records and be putting down anything of great importance, could he? This unfortunate elitist attitude can now be seen for the canard it always has been. These performances, newly issued, are more proof of Shaw's confidence in, and support of, modern jazz.