[Dixielandjazz] Artie Shaw recollections
Richard Broadie
rbroadie at dc.rr.com
Thu Dec 30 20:53:28 PST 2004
I spent some time at Artie's Newberry Park CA home about 8 years ago. That
was when I was trying to market my mono to stereo invention and Artie was a
fan of my technology. Stan Reiker, an outstanding audio engineer,
http://www.rickermaster.com/ , my driver and I spent about 4 hours listening
to Artie's opinions as well as his music in a huge room on the second floor
of his house. The setting felt more like a library than a house with
endless shelves filled with books and recordings.
On this day, Artie discussed many things including his opinion of Benny
Goodman, the world at large, his favorite recordings, and much else. My
subsequent meetings and phone calls basically provided me with his
explanations that lead to the conclusion that he could not use my
technologies because his producers had already released about 7 of his CDs
and they didn't want to "change horses in the middle of the stream."
I'll withold the temptation to discuss my preceived conception of what could
be ascribed as Mr. Shaw's personality flaws inasmuch as I'm sure that there
will be many others willing to fill that void. I will say that I was never
a great fan of his music until I met him and listened to his impressive
improvisational skills on some of his favorite recordings. At the
conclusion of our meeting, I admittedly gained much insight as well as
respect for him as a musician. Then again, the whole world apparently knew
he was a fantastic player before I did. (I grew up being a Benny Goodman
fan and was told the myth that Artie read every note he ever played.)
I'm quite tired at the moment so will withold writing more until another
time when I'm a bit fresher and, perhaps I can include Mr. Reiker's
recollections in the next email missive to you.
Hope you find this of some interest.
Dick Broadie
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