[Dixielandjazz] Artie Shaw -- Muaical Nostradamus

[Harold Smith]

When Artie Shaw walked away from his first popular big band, after
calling the Jitterbugs "morons", he was, in fact, a great prophet
without honor.

Last nght, during an intermission at our New Year's Eve gig, the Muzak
came on, and the itmes they played were performed in the following
order:

     1:  Ella Fitzgeral
     2:  Mel Torme
     3:  Elvis Presley
     4:  Kenny G

There, you have a microcosm of our musical direction, or,what may be
called "The Decline and Fall of Western Civilization".

Artie Shaw nailed it away back in the late 30's or early '40's, and
people thought he was "gruff"?

Harold Smith