[Dixielandjazz] Artie Shaw

[Steve barbone]

Some insight on Artie Shaw that list mates may find of interest. Via an
email from (name withheld) after he visited Shaw's house. Shaw had lived
there for about 20 years, prior to his passing.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

Below is an email from (name withheld) after he visited Artie Shaw's house.
Artie lived there for 20 years.
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I went to see the house yesterday and I have to tell you it was like a
religious experience.  I met Artie once in 1977, but it was at a recording
session I was producing and I was under such pressure that night that I only
had time to talk to him for a few minutes. He was very nice, but I remember
that he was anxious to talk to Teo Macero (who was my co-producer) about the
old days. Maybe that's why he was cordial to me.

First of all, the house is in terrible shape. He lived there more than 20
years and didn't do a thing to the house. They're asking $678,000, but it's
basically a tear-downl.  A lot of his stuff was still there: his Hindenberg
grand piano was for sale for $25,000, art work on the walls were all for
sale including some gag pictures, and all his books were still on the
shelves in his study on the second floor. The shelves had all been covered
with blue tarp, but there were a few loose ends so I was able to peel back
the tarp and see the book titles.  Everything was old and pretty crumbly.  I
opened a few books to see if he wrote his name in the front cover, but there
was nothing there.

The broker told me that all the really valuable stuff was locked up in a
storage room in his study. I tried the door and it was, in fact, locked.
The guy told me that in the storage room, besides all his awards, they found
all his Lana Turner letters. I opened another storage room and it was a
small closet with reel-to-reel tapes which were all falling apart.  On the
back of the door when I opened it was a hanging cassette shelf with old
dusty cassettes. I grabbed one which had a little note in his handwriting
stuck to it. The note was sarcastic and sort of funny, so I put the cassette
in my pocket. Haven't played it yet, but if it still plays, I'll make you a
copy.

I had my son with me and he was walking all over the house asking questions
and being a normal 6-year-old.  He wanted me to buy the house and make
Artie's study/office his playroom.  It was frustrating, because I felt like
I was in some kind of temple and I couldn't concentrate on everything the
way I'd like to have done.  You could still feel Artie's presence in his
study/office. He had a very old Yamaha electric piano with a wooden music
rack for writing. That was for sale, too, but it was probably the first
electric piano Yamaha ever made - belongs in a museum.

All in all, a real life experience. There were a lot of people going through
the house who were not interested in buying it - they just wanted to see
where and how Artie lived.  The house was sad in a way, but his lifestyle
was very similar to Raksin's.  David lived in an old house which was
basically a dump. He couldn't care less.  Both these guys were artists who
were only concerned with creative things.  Their creature comforts weren't
all that important. Besides, Artie had a ton of money and fancy houses
earlier in his life. But it just goes to show that greatness is seldom
pretty."

Peace