Singleversity #50

Audiversity’s weekly column on music we stumble across during our sonic adventures. No random numbers, just straight audio goodness.

MA:



I typically read books on jazz to try and comprehend the revolutionary cats of the 60s avant-garde era, but as with trying to understand anything, you have to know the roots before you can get the stems. Not too long ago, I worked my way through Gary Giddins’ excellent Visions of Jazz: The First Century, and despite being quite taken by the chapters on the Modern Jazz Quartet, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Charles Mingus and Muhal Richard Abrams, I was most fascinated by Artie Shaw; a far cry from the free jazz experimenters. The clarinetist could have achieved the legendary status of Benny Goodman, but walked away from his musical career a total of five times until finally leaving the industry in 1954 for good (he didn’t pass away until 2004). The bridge between swing and bop, Shaw was appalled by the idea that his music was transforming him from, in Giddins’ words, “an introspective, adventurous, irreverent musician into a celebrity on autopilot – little better, in his unforgiving view, than a trained seal.” His goal was to become the best clarinetist he believed possible, and when he achieved that he walked away for good. His last recording, "Yesterdays" (found on Artie Shaw: The Last Recordings, Rare & Unreleased), is a haunting ballad of tonal perfection with delicate melodic passages provided by pianist Hank Jones and guitarist Joe Puma. A sobering late night (and career) come down if there ever was one.

PM:

I know this was Singleversity #50, and it was supposed to be something special, and I was going to have something for you, but I think Snöleoparden did it to me. I've lost it.



(Patrick has gone insane, but he will return next week. Probably. -Ed.)