Biography of artie shaw

Bio

"Any such description of me as a Jazz Master should properly be made by others.  I am, naturally, pleased by the present appraisal of my work.  As I have often said, 'I did the best I could with the material at hand.'"

Immensely popular and startlingly innovative, Artie Shaw rose to prominence in the s as a swing bandleader, master clarinetist, and boundary-crossing artist, who infused jazz with the influences of modern European composers.

Born in , he left New Haven, Connecticut, at age 15 to tour as a jazz musician.

Though based in Cleveland, where he wrote his first arrangements for bandleader Austin Wylie, he later made important road trips with Irving Aaronson's band. The band took him to Chicago, where he played in jam sessions and first heard recordings by Stravinsky and Debussy.

Next, in , the Aaronson band brought him to New York, where he played in Harlem jam sessions and came under the influence of Willie "The Lion" Smith. He decided to stay on and at a