ARTIE SHAW AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1945-1946 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1330 (2003) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Here lie the last of the Victor recordings by Artie Shaw and his orchestra, dating from July and November of 1945. The first nine titles are charming big band dance numbers. A lot of that charm comes straight up from Dodo Marmarosa's piano and Barney Kessel's guitar, through the trumpet of Roy Eldridge and out of Artie Shaw's elegant clarinet. Those are four good reasons to check these records out, up close. Anybody who loves Dodo Marmarosa needs to hear these recordings in order to be able to appreciate how this young man interacted with a big band. Fortunately, there are only a few vocals by syrupy singer Halsey Stevens. At the tail end of "Yolanda," Dodo executes a mildly dissonant run in an apparent response to the heavily sugared crooning. Every sappy vocal is countered by several handsome instrumental interpretations of melodies by George Gershwin, Jerome Kern and Rodgers & Hart. Five solid performances by Artie Shaw Gramercy Five constitute the artistic high point of this CD. But the clarinetist seems to have been unwilling to stick with one style for more than a little while. Personnel changes began to occur and the music itself soon became radically different. Beginning on November 14, 1945, Shaw switched from Victor to the Musicraft label. Eldridge was gone, and the hip team of Kessel and Marmarosa were on the way out, along with much of the jazz element. On April 30 1946 the orchestra was augmented with strings. Succumbing to some sort of Hollywood malaise, Shaw's orchestra found itself supporting the confectionary voices of Mel Tormé & the Mel-Tones. The session of June 6 featured Shaw's clarinet backed by an enormous ensemble consisting of 12 violins, five violas, four cellos, three basses [one of which was played by Art Shapiro], harp, piano, guitar, drums, oboe, flute, two bassoons, four French horns and five saxophones. Arrangements were by Teddy Walters. Pointing in the direction of Technicolor, television and Tupperware, these recordings are as different as can be from the exciting jazz cooked up by Shaw's band only a few months earlier. While Shaw had his own reasons for heading in this direction, he was also at the mercy of the entertainment industry, and said as much in his autobiography, The Trouble with Cinderella. arwulf arwulf  
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