SHAW, ARTIE

SHAW, ARTIE (Arthur Arshawsky; 1910–2004), jazz clarinetist, bandleader, composer, and arranger. Born in New York, Shaw joined Johnny Cavallaro's dance band in 1925 as an alto saxophonist. From 1926 to 1929 he worked in Cleveland as musical director and arranger for an orchestra led by Austin Wylie. He then toured as a tenor saxophonist with Irving Aaronson's band. From 1931 to 1934 he worked as a freelance studio musician and in 1937 formed a conventional swing band. This group, which included Billie Holiday, marked his breakthrough to public fame and established him as a rival to benny goodman . In the 1940s Shaw formed several bands, among them the Gramercy Five, which became one of the leading exponents of the swing style at that time. He put together his last Gramercy Five in October 1953, then in 1954 went into retirement. Shaw was a public figure whose handsome looks and eight marriages (among others to the film actresses Lana Turner and Ava Gardner) made him a darling of gossip columnists. Among his biggest hits were Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine" (1938), "Summit Ridge Drive" (1940), "Frenesi," and "Little Jazz" (1945). He published an autobiographical novel, The Trouble with Cinderella, in 1952. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Grove online, s.v.; E.L. Blandford, Artie Shaw (1974), biodiscography. (Israela Stein (2nd ed.)