154-514: Artie Shaw (born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky ; May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004) was an American clarinetist, composer, bandleader, actor and author of both fiction and non-fiction. Widely regarded as "one of jazz's finest clarinetists", Shaw led one of the United States' most popular big bands in the late 1930s through the early 1940s. Though he had numerous hit records, he was perhaps best known for his 1938 recording of Cole Porter 's " Begin
308-770: A Black student from attending its public elementary schools and instead established a separate segregated school when it was sued. Portland's public schools were integrated in 1872. Congress passed the Reconstruction Acts of 1867, ratified the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1870, granting African Americans the right to vote, and it also enacted the Civil Rights Act of 1875 forbidding racial segregation in accommodations. Federal occupation in
462-646: A Democrat from North Carolina, accused him of trying to break down segregation laws, Ickes wrote him to deny that: The New Deal, nonetheless, also provided federal benefits to Black Americans. This led many to become part of the New Deal coalition from their base in Northern and Western cities where they could now vote, having in large numbers left the South during the Great Migration . Influenced in part by
616-672: A Fiddle" . In 1935, he first gained attention with his "Interlude in B-flat" at a swing concert at the Imperial Theater in New York. During the swing era , his big bands were popular with hits like " Begin the Beguine " (1938), " Stardust " (with a trumpet solo by Billy Butterfield ), "Back Bay Shuffle", " Moonglow ", "Rosalie", and " Frenesi ". The show was well received, but was forced to dissolve in 1937 because his band's sound
770-404: A backlash among white Republicans led to the rise of the lily-white movement to remove African Americans from leadership positions in the party and to incite riots to divide the party, with the ultimate goal of eliminating black influence. By 1910, segregation was firmly established across the South and most of the border region, and only a small number of black leaders were allowed to vote across
924-484: A big band was not novel, as it had been done by Paul Whiteman and others since the 1920s. Shaw updated the idea with the music trends of the 1940s. Strings gave him a wider tonal palette and allowed him to concentrate on ballads rather than the fast dance songs of the swing era. Shaw was at or near the top of the list of virtuoso jazz bandleaders. The band was showcased on the Burns and Allen program every week. In 1940, at
1078-439: A car whose occupants they believed had shot into their homes and mistakenly killed two policemen riding in a car. The next day, a full-scaled riot erupted which ended only after nine whites and thirty-nine blacks had been killed and over three hundred buildings were destroyed. Anti-miscegenation laws (also known as miscegenation laws) prohibited whites and non-whites from marrying each other. The first ever anti-miscegenation law
1232-660: A century as a result of their broadcasts on the NBC and CBS networks of the annual New Year's Eve celebrations from the Roosevelt Grill at New York's Roosevelt Hotel (1929-1959) and the Ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel (1959-1976) . Gloria Parker had a radio program on which she conducted the largest all-girl orchestra led by a female. She led her Swingphony while playing marimba. Phil Spitalny ,
1386-543: A college for African Americans in New Haven, Connecticut. Black schools were established by some religious groups and philanthropists to educate African Americans. Oberlin Academy was one of the early schools to integrate. Lowell High School also accepted African American students. California passed a law prohibiting "Negroes, Mongolians and Indians" from attending public schools. It took ten or more minorities in
1540-458: A colored person"— or vice versa—each party "shall be guilty of a felony" and face prison terms of five years. In 1965, Virginia trial court Judge Leon Bazile, who heard their original case, defended his decision: Almighty God created the races white , black , yellow , Malay , and red , and placed them on separate continents , and but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated
1694-427: A community to petition for a segregated school or these groups were denied access to public education. The state's superintendent of schools, Andrew Moulder , stated: "The great mass of our citizens will not associate in terms of equality with these inferior races, nor will they consent that their children do so." In Colorado housing and school segregation lasted into the 1960s. In 1867, Portland, Oregon prevented
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#17327875654771848-399: A contract to make a will between them. In July 2006, a Ventura, California , jury unanimously held that Keyes was entitled to almost one-half of Shaw's estate, or $ 1,420,000. In 1980, Shaw donated his papers, most of which amounted to his music library of over 700 scores and parts and approximately 1,000 pieces of sheet music, to Boston University . In 1991, the collection was transferred to
2002-491: A disadvantage when it came to the job market, which led to a decrease in marriage rates in the black community due to the large number of men that weren't financially secure enough to take care of a family. Hypersegregation was prominent in creating an isolated community for African Americans in the United States. This pattern was consistent in making African American residents unstable financially which spread to other poor living conditions. The pattern of hypersegregation began in
2156-458: A given neighborhood not to sell to blacks. Whites who broke these agreements could be sued by "damaged" neighbors. In the 1948 case of Shelley v. Kraemer , the U.S. Supreme Court finally ruled that such covenants were unenforceable in a court of law. Residential segregation patterns had already become established in most American cities, and have often persisted up to the present from the impact of white flight and redlining . In most cities,
2310-510: A group of session musicians in Hollywood, trying to combine strings and woodwinds with a jazz band. The result was the hit "Frenesi". He was hired as bandleader for the Burns and Allen Show broadcast from Hollywood. He organized a band that was modeled after his swing band concept of the late-1930s with the addition of six violins, two violas, and one cello. The addition of a string section to
2464-510: A handful of northern colleges accepted black students. Northern denominations and especially their missionary associations established private schools across the South to provide secondary education. They provided a small amount of collegiate work. Tuition was minimal, so churches financially supported the colleges and also subsidized the pay of some teachers. In 1900, churches—mostly based in the North—operated 247 schools for black people across
2618-570: A lasting reputation as music director and arranger for an orchestra led by the violinist Austin Wylie. In 1929 and 1930, he played with Irving Aaronson 's Commanders, where he was exposed to symphonic music, which he would later incorporate in his arrangements. In 1932, Shaw joined the Roger Wolfe Kahn Orchestra and made several recordings with the outfit including " It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) " and "Fit as
2772-452: A longhair, impressed with my own ability. Nothing could be farther from the truth. My faith in dance music — I refuse to call it swing — borders on the fanatic. I have the utmost respect for the many real musicians who are creating a new music as important as the classics, but I have no respect for musical clowns who lead an orchestra with a baton and a quip. However, more power to them if they can make it pay." When Shaw told his agents that he
2926-431: A menace. After 1935, big bands rose to prominence playing swing music and held a major role in defining swing as a distinctive style. Western swing musicians also formed popular big bands during the same period. A considerable range of styles evolved among the hundreds of popular bands. Many of the better known bands reflected the individuality of the bandleader, the lead arranger, and the personnel. Count Basie played
3080-539: A minority lives on within its particular city. The higher segregation is within that particular area, the smaller the amount of land a minority group will control. In the 1980s, the rise of hypersegregation was distinctively large in Black neighborhoods. The extreme segregation of African Americans resulted in a different society lived by black and white residents. The isolation of the African American community
3234-464: A more "mainstream" singer. Like his main rival, Benny Goodman , and other leaders of big bands, Shaw fashioned a smaller "band within the band" in 1940. He named it Artie Shaw and the Gramercy Five after his home telephone exchange . Band pianist Johnny Guarnieri played harpsichord on the quintet recordings, and Al Hendrickson played electric guitar. Trumpeter Roy Eldridge became part of
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#17327875654773388-420: A native of Ukraine, led a 22-piece female orchestra known as Phil Spitalny and His Hour of Charm Orchestra , named for his radio show, The Hour of Charm , during the 1930s and 1940s. Other female bands were led by trumpeter B. A. Rolfe , Anna Mae Winburn , and Ina Ray Hutton . Big Bands began to appear in movies in the 1930s through the 1960s, though cameos by bandleaders were often stiff and incidental to
3542-419: A nervous breakdown, soon after which she divorced him. In 1940, before eloping with Lana Turner , Shaw briefly dated actresses Betty Grable and Judy Garland and, according to Tom Nolan's biography, had an affair with Lena Horne . Apart from his interest in music, Shaw had a tremendous intellect and almost insatiable thirst for intellectual knowledge and literature. During his self-imposed "sabbaticals" from
3696-427: A part of the celebrity culture of the period, with its professional obligations. He told Metronome magazine: "I don't like the business of music. I'm unhappy in the music 'business.' Maybe I don't even belong in it. I like the music part, but for me the business part just plain stinks." Shaw also resented the constant pressure imposed on him by networks, agencies, publishers, and promoters. He summed up his feelings in
3850-480: A period of renewed introspection. After his discharge, he entered psychoanalysis and began to withdraw from music in favor of a writing career. His autobiography, The Trouble With Cinderella: An Outline of Identity , was published in 1952 (with later reprint editions in 1992 and 2001). Revealing downbeat elements of the music business, Shaw explained that "the trouble with Cinderella" is "nobody ever lives happily ever after." He turned to semi-autobiographical fiction with
4004-413: A relaxed, propulsive swing, Bob Crosby (brother of Bing ), more of a dixieland style, Benny Goodman a hard driving swing, and Duke Ellington's compositions were varied and sophisticated. Many bands featured strong instrumentalists whose sounds dominated, such as the clarinets of Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw , the trombone of Jack Teagarden , the trumpet of Harry James , the drums of Gene Krupa , and
4158-493: A reporter: "In the world we live in, compulsive perfectionists finish last. You have to be Lawrence Welk or, on another level, Irving Berlin , and write the same kind of music over and over again. I'm not able to do that, and I have taken the clarinet as far as anyone can possibly go. To continue playing would be a disservice." He spent the rest of the 1950s living in Europe. In 1983, after years of prodding by Williard Alexander,
4312-513: A requirement that was rarely met. The doctrine's applicability to public schools was unanimously overturned in Brown v. Board of Education (1954). In the following years the court further ruled against racial segregation in several landmark cases including Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States (1964), which helped bring an end to the Jim Crow laws . Segregation was enforced across
4466-574: A segregated audience in Jacksonville, Florida . City officials relented following this announcement. A contract for a 1965 Beatles concert at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California , specifies that the band "not be required to perform in front of a segregated audience". Despite all the legal changes that have taken place since the 1940s and especially in the 1960s (see Desegregation ),
4620-429: A self-penned 1939 Saturday Evening Post article: "My job is to play music, not politics, and my only obligation is to the people who pay to listen to me. I don't attempt to ram hackneyed, insipid tunes down the public's throat just because they've been artificially hypoed to the so-called 'hit' class. This policy of trying to maintain some vestige of musical integrity has, naturally, earned me enemies, people who think I'm
4774-919: A series of race riots. In 1898 white citizens of Wilmington, North Carolina , resenting African Americans' involvement in local government and incensed by an editorial in an African-American newspaper accusing white women of loose sexual behavior, rioted and killed dozens of blacks. In the fury's wake, white supremacists overthrew the city government , expelling black and white officeholders, and instituted restrictions to prevent blacks from voting . In Atlanta in 1906, newspaper accounts alleging attacks by black men on white women provoked an outburst of shooting and killing that left twelve blacks dead and seventy injured. An influx of unskilled black strikebreakers into East St Louis, Illinois , heightened racial tensions in 1917. Rumors that blacks were arming themselves for an attack on whites resulted in numerous attacks by white mobs on black neighborhoods. On July 1, blacks fired back at
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4928-554: A similar requirement existed. The federal government required them to be explicitly segregated to be federally backed. The federal government's financial backing also required the use of racially restrictive covenants , that banned white homeowners from reselling their house to any Black buyers, effectively locking Black Americans out of the housing market. The government encouraged white families to move into suburbs by granting them loans, which were refused to Black Americans. Many established African American communities were disrupted by
5082-410: A single space; clustering often leads to one big ghetto and the formation of "hyperghettoization". Centralization measures the tendency of members of a minority group to be located in the middle of an urban area, often computed as a percentage of a minority group living in the middle of a city (as opposed to the outlying areas). Concentration is the dimension that relates to the actual amount of land
5236-531: A vamp possibly influenced by Shaw's 1938 recording of "Nightmare". Shaw also recorded with small jazz groups drawn from within the ranks of the big bands he led. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1942 to 1944, during which time he led a morale-building band that toured the South Pacific. Following his discharge in 1944, he returned to lead a band through 1945. Following the breakup of that band, he began to focus on other interests and gradually withdrew from
5390-548: A young Bob Hope as the announcer. Big band remotes on the major radio networks spread the music from ballrooms and clubs across the country during the 1930s and 1940s, with remote broadcasts from jazz clubs continuing into the 1950s on NBC's Monitor . Radio increased the fame of Benny Goodman , the "Pied Piper of Swing". Others challenged him, and battle of the bands became a regular feature of theater performances. Similarly, Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians Orchestra also achieved widespread notoriety for nearly half
5544-471: Is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones , trumpets , trombones , and a rhythm section . Big bands originated during the early 1910s and dominated jazz in the early 1940s when swing was most popular. The term "big band" is also used to describe a genre of music, although this was not the only style of music played by big bands. Big bands started as accompaniment for dancing
5698-415: Is generally configured so lead parts are seated in the middle of their sections and solo parts are seated closest to the rhythm section. The fourth trombone part is generally played by a bass trombone. In some pieces the trumpets may double on flugelhorn or cornet , and saxophone players frequently double on other woodwinds such as flute , piccolo , clarinet , bass clarinet , or soprano saxophone . It
5852-441: Is that which exists without sanction of the law. De facto segregation continues today in such closely related areas as residential segregation and school segregation because of both contemporary behavior and the historical legacy of de jure segregation. Schools were segregated in the U.S. and educational opportunities for Black people were restricted. Efforts to establish schools for them were met with violent opposition from
6006-524: Is useful to distinguish between the roles of composer, arranger and leader. The composer writes original music that will be performed by individuals or groups of various sizes, while the arranger adapts the work of composers in a creative way for a performance or recording. Arrangers frequently notate all or most of the score of a given number, usually referred to as a "chart". Bandleaders are typically performers who assemble musicians to form an ensemble of various sizes, select or create material for them, shape
6160-621: The 12th Academy Awards ceremony at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles she was required to sit at a segregated table at the far wall of the room; the hotel had a no-blacks policy, but allowed McDaniel in as a favor. McDaniel's final wish to be buried in Hollywood Cemetery was denied because the graveyard was restricted to whites only. On September 11, 1964, John Lennon announced The Beatles would not play to
6314-656: The Constitution of Massachusetts . Emlen Institution was a boarding school for African American and Native American orphans in Ohio and then Pennsylvania. Richard Humphreys bequeathed money to establish the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia. Yale Law School co-founder, judge, and mayor of New Haven David Daggett was a leader in the fight against schools for African Americans and helped block plans for
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6468-688: The Cotton Club in Harlem. Fletcher Henderson 's career started when he was persuaded to audition for a job at Club Alabam in New York City, which eventually turned into a job as bandleader at the Roseland Ballroom . At these venues, which themselves gained notoriety, bandleaders and arrangers played a greater role than they had before. Hickman relied on Ferde Grofé, Whiteman on Bill Challis . Henderson and arranger Don Redman followed
6622-603: The Deep South . The legitimacy of laws requiring segregation of black people was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson , 163 U.S. 537. The Supreme Court sustained the constitutionality of a Louisiana statute that required railroad companies to provide " separate but equal " accommodations for white and black passengers, and prohibited white people and black people from using railroad cars that were not assigned to their race. Plessy thus allowed segregation, which became standard throughout
6776-530: The Library of Congress film collection. Racial segregation in the United States Facilities and services such as housing , healthcare , education , employment , and transportation have been systematically separated in the United States based on racial categorizations . Segregation was the legally or socially enforced separation of African Americans from whites , as well as
6930-492: The Lindy Hop . In contrast to the typical jazz emphasis on improvisation, big bands relied on written compositions and arrangements. They gave a greater role to bandleaders, arrangers, and sections of instruments rather than soloists. Big bands generally have four sections: trumpets, trombones, saxophones, and a rhythm section of guitar, piano, double bass, drums and sometimes vibraphone. The division in early big bands, from
7084-595: The Marines had no blacks enlisted in their ranks. There were blacks in the Navy Seabees . Before the war, the army had only five African-American officers. No African American received the Medal of Honor during the war, and they were mostly relegated to non-combat units. Black soldiers were sometimes forced to give up their seats in trains to Nazi prisoners of war. World War II saw the first black military pilots in
7238-571: The Officer Candidate School became the Army's first formal experiment with integration – with all Officer Candidates, regardless of race, living and training together. During World War II , 110,000 people of Japanese descent (whether citizens or not) were placed in internment camps . Hundreds of people of German and Italian descent were also imprisoned (see German American internment and Italian American internment ). While
7392-517: The Pacific theater . After 18 months playing for Navy personnel, (sometimes as many as four concerts a day in battle zones, including Guadalcanal ), Shaw returned to the U.S. in a state of physical exhaustion and received a medical discharge. After the war, the popularity of big bands declined, as Crooners and Bebop began to dominate the charts. Shaw credited his time in the Navy from 1942 to 1944 as
7546-705: The Republican Party in the South splintered and lost support, leading to the conservatives (calling themselves " Redeemers ") taking control of all the Southern states. 'Jim Crow' segregation began somewhat later, in the 1880s. Disfranchisement of black people began in the 1890s. Although the Republican Party had championed African-American rights during the Civil War and had become a platform for black political influence during Reconstruction,
7700-419: The federal civil service , according to Brian J. Cook in his work, Democracy And Administration: Woodrow Wilson's Ideas And The Challenges Of Public Management . White and black people were sometimes required to eat separately, go to separate schools, use separate public toilets, park benches, train, buses, and water fountains, etc. In some locales, stores and restaurants refused to serve different races under
7854-532: The southern United States , and represented the institutionalization of the Jim Crow period. Everyone was supposed to receive the same public services (schools, hospitals, prisons, etc.), but with separate facilities for each race. In practice, the services and facilities reserved for African-Americans were almost always of lower quality than those reserved for white people, if they existed at all; for example, most African-American schools received less public funding per student than nearby white schools. Segregation
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#17327875654778008-678: The " Black Cabinet " advisors and the March on Washington Movement , just prior to America's entry into World War II, Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 , the first anti-discrimination order at the federal level and established the Fair Employment Practices Committee . Roosevelt's successor, President Harry Truman appointed the President's Committee on Civil Rights , and issued Executive Order 9980 and Executive Order 9981 providing for desegregation throughout
8162-641: The 1857 Dred Scott case ( Dred Scott v. Sandford ), the U.S. Supreme Court found that Black people were not and could never be U.S. citizens and that the U.S. Constitution and civil rights were not applicable to them. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1875 , but it was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1883 in the Civil Rights Cases . The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of segregation in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), so long as " separate but equal " facilities were provided,
8316-456: The 1920s to 1930s, was typically two or three trumpets, one or two trombones, three or four saxophones, and a rhythm section of four instruments. In the 1940s, Stan Kenton 's band used up to five trumpets, five trombones (three tenor and two bass trombones ), five saxophones (two alto saxophones , two tenor saxophones , one baritone saxophone ), and a rhythm section. Duke Ellington at one time used six trumpets. While most big bands dropped
8470-503: The 1930s . The US government heavily advertised the suburbs to them and the subsidized mortgages the government provided were typically cheaper than monthly rent. These same mortgages were not provided to Black Americans in public housing , leading to overcrowding, while white public housing sat vacant. As industry began to move out of the inner city, the African-American residents lost the stable jobs that had brought them to
8624-726: The 1930s as a whole was racially segregated; black people and whites rarely worked alongside each other in New Deal programs. The largest relief program by far was the Works Progress Administration (WPA); it operated segregated units, as did its youth affiliate, the National Youth Administration (NYA). Black people were hired by the WPA as supervisors in the North; of 10,000 WPA supervisors in
8778-627: The 1930s, Earl Hines and his band broadcast from the Grand Terrace in Chicago every night across America. In Kansas City and across the Southwest, an earthier, bluesier style was developed by such bandleaders as Bennie Moten and, later, by Jay McShann and Jesse Stone . By 1937, the "sweet jazz band" saxophonist Shep Fields was also featured over the airways on the NBC radio network in his Rippling Rhythm Revue, which also showcased
8932-671: The 1960s and '70s, Sun Ra and his Arketstra took big bands further out. Ra's eclectic music was played by a roster of musicians from ten to thirty and was presented as theater, with costumes, dancers, and special effects. As jazz was expanded during the 1950s through the 1970s, the Basie and Ellington bands were still around, as were bands led by Buddy Rich , Gene Krupa , Lionel Hampton , Earl Hines , Les Brown , Clark Terry , and Doc Severinsen . Progressive bands were led by Dizzy Gillespie , Gil Evans , Carla Bley , Toshiko Akiyoshi and Lew Tabackin , Don Ellis , and Anthony Braxton . In
9086-401: The 1960s and 1970s, big band rock became popular by integrating such musical ingredients as progressive rock experimentation , jazz fusion , and the horn choirs often used in blues and soul music , with some of the most prominent groups including Chicago ; Blood, Sweat and Tears ; Tower of Power ; and, from Canada, Lighthouse . The genre was gradually absorbed into mainstream pop rock and
9240-413: The 73-year-old Shaw organized a band and selected clarinetist Dick Johnson as bandleader and soloist. The 58-year-old Johnson, an accomplished woodwind and saxophonist and native of Brockton, Massachusetts , was no stranger to jazz having recorded numerous albums of his own and had idolized Shaw's playing throughout his life. Shaw's music library, which was the product of his almost 20 years of activity in
9394-612: The Beguine ." Before the release of "Beguine," Shaw and his fledgling band had languished in relative obscurity for over two years and, after its release, he became a major pop artist within short order. The record eventually became one of the era's defining recordings. Musically restless, Shaw was also an early proponent of what became known much later as Third Stream music, which blended elements of classical and jazz forms and traditions. His music influenced other musicians, such as Monty Norman in England, whose " James Bond Theme " features
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#17327875654779548-650: The Little Orchestra Society; on the preceding day (19 February) Shaw had performed the Mozart concerto in Newark (NJ) with Scherman and the L.O.S. In July 1954, Shaw undertook a brief Australian tour for promoter Lee Gordon on which he shared the bill with drummer Buddy Rich and vocalist Ella Fitzgerald . After completing that tour Shaw stopped playing the clarinet, citing his own perfectionism, which, he later said, would have killed him. He explained to
9702-788: The School of Music of the University of Arizona in Tucson. In 2004, he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award . In 1938, DownBeat magazine readers voted Artie Shaw's the best swing band. In response to Benny Goodman's nickname, the "King of Swing", Shaw's fans dubbed him the "King of the Clarinet". He felt the titles should be reversed. "Benny Goodman played clarinet. I played music," he said. Longtime Duke Ellington clarinetist Barney Bigard cited Shaw as his favorite clarinet player. Big bands A big band or jazz orchestra
9856-519: The Second Herd emphasized the saxophone section of three tenors and one baritone. In the 1950s, Stan Kenton referred to his band's music as "progressive jazz", "modern", and "new music". He created his band as a vehicle for his compositions. Kenton pushed the boundaries of big bands by combining clashing elements and by hiring arrangers whose ideas about music conflicted. This expansive eclecticism characterized much of jazz after World War II. During
10010-625: The South helped allow many black people to vote and elect their own political leaders. The Reconstruction amendments asserted the supremacy of the national state and they also asserted that everyone within it was formally equal under the law. However, it did not prohibit segregation in schools. When the Republicans came to power in the Southern states after 1867, they created the first system of taxpayer-funded public schools. Southern black people wanted public schools for their children, but they did not demand racially integrated schools. Almost all
10164-457: The South, only 11 were black. Historian Anthony Badger argues, "New Deal programs in the South routinely discriminated against black people and perpetuated segregation." In its first few weeks of operation, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps in the North were integrated. By July 1935, practically all the CCC camps in the United States were segregated, and black people were strictly limited in
10318-627: The South, with a budget of about $ 1 million. They employed 1600 teachers and taught 46,000 students. Prominent schools included Howard University , a private, federally chartered institution based in Washington, D.C.; Fisk University in Nashville, Atlanta University , Hampton Institute in Virginia, and others. By the early 1870s, the North lost interest in further reconstruction efforts, and, when federal troops were withdrawn in 1877,
10472-409: The U.S. These five dimensions are evenness, clustering, exposure, centralization and concentration. Evenness is the difference between the percentage of a minority group in a particular part of a city, compared to the city as a whole. Exposure is the likelihood that a minority and a majority party will come in contact with one another. Clustering is the gathering of different minority groups into
10626-670: The U.S. for much of its history. Racial segregation follows two forms, De jure and De facto . De jure segregation mandated the separation of races by law, and was the form imposed by slave codes before the Civil War and by Black Codes and Jim Crow laws following the war. De jure segregation was outlawed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 , the Voting Rights Act of 1965 , and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. De facto segregation, or segregation "in fact",
10780-496: The U.S., he responded, "I hope not; I don’t believe in it", before asking a question often aimed at anyone advocating racial integration, "Would you want your daughter to marry a Negro? She won't love someone who isn't her color." In 1958, officers in Virginia entered the home of Richard and Mildred Loving and dragged them out of bed for living together as an interracial couple, on the basis that "any white person intermarry with
10934-504: The U.S., the Tuskegee Airmen , 99th Fighter Squadron, and also saw the segregated 183rd Engineer Combat Battalion participate in the liberation of Jewish survivors at Buchenwald concentration camp . Despite the institutional policy of racially segregated training for enlisted members and in tactical units; Army policy dictated that black and white soldiers train together in officer candidate schools (beginning in 1942). Thus,
11088-619: The United States Armed Forces. A club central to the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s, the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City, was a whites-only establishment, with blacks (such as Duke Ellington ) allowed to perform, but to a white audience. The first black Oscar recipient Hattie McDaniel was not permitted to attend the premiere of Gone with the Wind with Atlanta being racially segregated , and at
11242-538: The United States in 1962, and an expert fly fisherman . In his later years, Shaw lived and wrote in the Newbury Park section of Thousand Oaks, California . Shaw died on December 30, 2004, aged 94. According to his publicist, he had been "in ill health for some time, but I don't know the specific cause of death." Shaw had been diabetic since the 1980s. In 2005, Shaw's eighth wife, actress Evelyn Keyes , filed suit, seeking one-half of Shaw's estate , pursuant to
11396-407: The United States remains, to some degree, a segregated society, with housing patterns, school enrollment, church membership, employment opportunities, and even college admissions all reflecting significant de facto segregation. Supporters of affirmative action argue that the persistence of such disparities reflects either racial discrimination or the persistence of its effects. Gates v. Collier
11550-495: The United States, and the personnel often had to perform having had little sleep and food. Apart from the star soloists, many musicians received low wages and would abandon the tour if bookings disappeared. Sometimes bandstands were too small, public address systems inadequate, pianos out of tune. Bandleaders dealt with these obstacles through rigid discipline (Glenn Miller) and canny psychology ( Duke Ellington ). Big bands raised morale during World War II . Many musicians served in
11704-557: The United States, especially in the South, signs were used to indicate where African Americans could legally walk, talk, drink, rest, or eat. With the passing of National Housing Act of 1934 , the United States government began to make low-interest mortgages available to families through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Black families were explicitly denied these loans. While technically legally allowed these loans, in practice they were barred. This
11858-488: The absence of their original leaders. Although big bands are identified with the swing era, they continued to exist after those decades, though the music they played was often different from swing. Bandleader Charlie Barnet 's recording of " Cherokee " in 1942 and "The Moose" in 1943 have been called the beginning of the bop era. Woody Herman 's first band, nicknamed the First Herd, borrowed from progressive jazz, while
12012-724: The area. Many were unable to leave the inner city and became increasingly poor. This created the inner-city ghettos that make up the core of hypersegregation. Though the Civil Rights Act of 1968 banned discrimination in housing, housing patterns established earlier saw the perpetuation of hypersegregation. Data from the 2000 census shows that 29 metropolitan areas displayed black-white hypersegregation. Two areas—Los Angeles and New York City—displayed Hispanic-white hypersegregation. No metropolitan area displayed hypersegregation for Asians or for Native Americans. President Woodrow Wilson removed many Blacks from public office. He did not oppose segregation practices by autonomous department heads of
12166-465: The ban on interracial marriage was still enforced in 29 states. While interracial marriage had been legal in California since 1948, in 1957 actor Sammy Davis Jr. faced a backlash for his involvement with white actress Kim Novak . Harry Cohn , the president of Columbia Pictures (with whom Novak was under contract) gave in to his concerns that a racist backlash against the relationship could hurt
12320-695: The band made its official debut on New Year's Eve 1984 at the Glen Island Casino in New Rochelle , New York, the same launching pad for many bands of the swing era decades earlier, when Shaw and his bands were in their prime. Shaw appeared with the band throughout its first few years, limiting his role to being its conductor and front man, while leaving the clarinet playing duties to Johnson. In 1985, another week-long series of strenuous rehearsals followed during which Shaw added more repertoire, including many arrangements and compositions that were from
12474-606: The band taking a final segue to Shaw's theme song Nightmare. In 2000, filmmaker Ken Burns interviewed Shaw at his home for his PBS documentary/miniseries Jazz where Shaw appears in multiple segments. His last major interview was in 2003, when he was interviewed by Russell Davies for the BBC Television documentary, Artie Shaw – Quest for Perfection . The documentary includes interviews with surviving members of his original bands, Johnson, and other music industry professionals. A self-proclaimed "very difficult man," Shaw
12628-437: The band's personal appearances to military bases in California. In August 1945, his contract with RCA ended and he signed with an independent label, Musicraft . He made a few records for Musicraft before the band broke up, and all of the recordings for Musicraft from 1946 were staffed by top-notch session musicians. The big band was back in the studio, this time including strings. On these Musicraft recordings in 1946 Shaw featured
12782-631: The bands of Guy Lombardo and Paul Whiteman. A distinction is often made between so-called "hard bands", such as those of Count Basie and Tommy Dorsey, which emphasized quick hard-driving jump tunes, and "sweet bands", such as the Glenn Miller Orchestra and the Shep Fields Rippling Rhythm Orchestra who specialized in less improvised tunes with more emphasis on sentimentality, featuring somewhat slower-paced, often heart-felt songs. By this time
12936-403: The big band was such a dominant force in jazz that the older generation found they either had to adapt to it or simply retire. With no market for small-group recordings (made worse by a Depression-era industry reluctant to take risks), musicians such as Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines led their own bands, while others, like Jelly Roll Morton and King Oliver, lapsed into obscurity. Even so, many of
13090-642: The boarding school to one for only African American girls, but Crandall was jailed for her efforts for violating a Black Law . In 1835, an anti- abolitionist mob attacked and destroyed Noyes Academy , an integrated school in Canaan, New Hampshire founded by abolitionists in New England . In the 1849 case Roberts v. City of Boston , the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that segregated schools were allowed under
13244-594: The distinction between these roles can become blurred. Billy Strayhorn , for example, was a prolific composer and arranger, frequently collaborating with Duke Ellington , but rarely took on the role of bandleader, which was assumed by Ellington, who himself was a composer and arranger. Typical big band arrangements from the swing era were written in strophic form with the same phrase and chord structure repeated several times. Each iteration, or chorus, commonly follows twelve bar blues form or thirty-two-bar (AABA) song form . The first chorus of an arrangement introduces
13398-451: The early 20th century. African-Americans who moved to large cities often moved into the inner city in order to gain industrial jobs. The influx of new African-American residents caused many white residents to move to the new suburbs (federally subsidized for white families only ) in a case of white flight . This was encouraged by the government, as many were white middle-class families who lived in segregated public housing first established in
13552-402: The ensemble with New York musicians until March 1941. While taking a few months' vacation in the spring of 1941 to reassess what to do next, Shaw recorded in another small-group format with three horns and a four-man rhythm section with the addition of a dozen strings. By September, he formed a big band with seven brass, five saxes, four rhythm, and fifteen strings. On December 7, three months into
13706-508: The entire band then memorizing the way they are going to perform the piece, without writing it on sheet music. During the 1930s, Count Basie 's band often used head arrangements, as Basie said, "we just sort of start it off and the others fall in." Head arrangements were more common during the period of the 1930s because there was less turnover in personnel, giving the band members more time to rehearse. Before 1910, social dance in America
13860-553: The federal government and the armed forces. In an often-cited 1988 study, Douglas Massey and Nancy Denton compiled 20 existing segregation measures and reduced them to five dimensions of residential segregation. Dudley L. Poston and Michael Micklin argue that Massey and Denton "brought conceptual clarity to the theory of segregation measurement by identifying five dimensions". African Americans are considered to be racially segregated because of all five dimensions of segregation being applied to them within these inner cities across
14014-474: The first bands to accompany the new rhythms was led by a drummer, Art Hickman , in San Francisco in 1916. Hickman's arranger, Ferde Grofé , wrote arrangements in which he divided the jazz orchestra into sections that combined in various ways. This intermingling of sections became a defining characteristic of big bands. In 1919, Paul Whiteman hired Grofé to use similar techniques for his band. Whiteman
14168-455: The form include modulations and cadential extensions. Some big ensembles, like King Oliver 's, played music that was half-arranged, half-improvised, often relying on head arrangements. A head arrangement is a piece of music that is formed by band members during rehearsal. They experiment, often with one player coming up with a simple musical figure leading to development within the same section and then further expansion by other sections, with
14322-468: The form of the "rhythm sextet ". These ensembles typically featured three or more accordions accompanied by piano, guitar, bass, cello, percussion, and marimba with vibes and were popularized by recording artists such as Charles Magnante , Joe Biviano and John Serry . Twenty-first century big bands can be considerably larger than their predecessors, exceeding 20 players, with some European bands using 29 instruments and some reaching 50. In
14476-495: The government program of Japanese American internment targeted all the Japanese in America as enemies, most German and Italian Americans were left in peace and were allowed to serve in the U.S. military. Pressure to end racial segregation in the government grew among African Americans and progressives after the end of World War II. On July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981 , ending segregation in
14630-582: The government to break down their resistance. On at least six occasions over nearly 60 years, the Supreme Court held, either explicitly or by necessary implication, that the "separate but equal" rule announced in Plessy was the correct rule of law, although, toward the end of that period, the Court began to focus on whether the separate facilities were in fact equal. The repeal of "separate but equal" laws
14784-700: The group, succeeding Billy Butterfield . In 1940, the original Gramercy Five cut eight sides, then Shaw dissolved the band in early 1941. The Gramercy Five's biggest hit was "Summit Ridge Drive", one of Shaw's million-selling records. His last prewar band, organized in September 1941, included Oran "Hot Lips" Page , Max Kaminsky , Georgie Auld , Dave Tough , Jack Jenney , Ray Conniff and Guarnieri. The long series of musical groups Shaw subsequently formed included Lena Horne , Helen Forrest , Mel Tormé , Buddy Rich , Dave Tough , Barney Kessel , Jimmy Raney , Tal Farlow , Dodo Marmarosa , and Ray Conniff . He used
14938-422: The height of his popularity, the 30-year-old Shaw earned up to $ 60,000 per week. In contrast, George Burns and Gracie Allen were each making $ 5,000 per week during the year that Shaw and his orchestra provided the music for their radio show. He acted on the show as a love interest for Gracie Allen. Shaw's contract was renewed for another 13 weeks when the program was moved to New York. Shaw disliked having to be
15092-487: The influence of the classical composer Igor Stravinsky . In addition to hiring Buddy Rich , he signed Billie Holiday as his band's vocalist in 1938, becoming the first white band leader to hire a full-time black female singer to tour the segregated Southern U.S. However, after recording "Any Old Time", Holiday left the band due to hostility from audiences in the South , as well as from music company executives who wanted
15246-645: The instrumentation of the big bands. Examples include the Vienna Art Orchestra , founded in 1977, and the Italian Instabile Orchestra , active in the 1990s. In the late 1990s, there was a swing revival in the U.S. The Lindy Hop became popular again and young people took an interest in big band styles again. Big bands maintained a presence on American television, particularly through the late-night talk show, which has historically used big bands as house accompaniment . Typically
15400-497: The jazz rock sector. Other bandleaders used Brazilian and Afro-Cuban music with big band instrumentation, and big bands led by arranger Gil Evans, saxophonist John Coltrane (on the album Ascension from 1965) and bass guitarist Jaco Pastorius introduced cool jazz , free jazz and jazz fusion, respectively, to the big band domain. Modern big bands can be found playing all styles of jazz music. Some large contemporary European jazz ensembles play mostly avant-garde jazz using
15554-419: The late 1930s, Shep Fields incorporated a solo accordion, temple blocks , piccolo , violins and a viola into his Rippling Rhythm Orchestra. Paul Whiteman also featured a solo accordion in his ensemble. Jazz ensembles numbering eight ( octet ), nine ( nonet ) or ten ( tentet ) voices are sometimes called "little big bands". During the 1940s, somewhat smaller configurations of the big band emerged in
15708-639: The later years of his career Shaw had never recorded. By 1987 though, Shaw was no longer touring with the band, quietly content that Johnson and the band kept true to Shaw's band spirit and vision. He would, however, show up on occasion "just to hear how things sounded". Shaw made several musical shorts in 1939 for Vitaphone and Paramount Pictures . He portrayed himself in the Fred Astaire film, Second Chorus (1940), which featured Shaw and his orchestra playing Concerto for Clarinet , and his 1940–41 Hollywood period Star Dust band can be heard throughout
15862-466: The melody and is followed by choruses of development. This development may take the form of improvised solos, written solo sections, and " shout choruses ". An arrangement's first chorus is sometimes preceded by an introduction, which may be as short as a few measures or may extend to a chorus of its own. Many arrangements contain an interlude, often similar in content to the introduction, inserted between some or all choruses. Other methods of embellishing
16016-475: The middle of a conflagration. On impulse, I went to the front row of the band where Les Robinson, first alto man, was sitting, and I said, 'Pass the word. This is two weeks' notice.' It went through the band and we played the rest of that show with a pall over it. Anyway, I joined the Navy." During World War II, Shaw enlisted in the United States Navy and shortly after formed a band, which served in
16170-541: The middle of the decade. Bridging the gap to white audiences in the mid-1930s was the Casa Loma Orchestra and Benny Goodman's early band. The contrast in commercial popularity between "black" and "white" bands was striking: between 1935 and 1945 the top four "white" bands had 292 top ten records, of which 65 were number one hits, while the top four "black" bands had only 32 top ten hits, with only three reaching number one. White teenagers and young adults were
16324-402: The military and toured with USO troupes at the front, with Glenn Miller losing his life while traveling between shows. Many bands suffered from loss of personnel during the war years, and, as a result, women replaced men who had been inducted, while all-female bands began to appear. The 1942–44 musicians' strike worsened the situation. Vocalists began to strike out on their own. By the end of
16478-419: The more literal 4 of early jazz. Walter Page is often credited with developing the walking bass , although earlier examples exist, such as Wellman Braud on Ellington's Washington Wabble (1927). This type of music flourished through the early 1930s, although there was little mass audience for it until around 1936. Up until that time, it was viewed with ridicule and sometimes looked upon as
16632-485: The morose "Nightmare", with its Hasidic nuances, as his theme rather than choosing a more accessible song. In a televised interview in the 1970s, Shaw derided the "asinine" songs of Tin Pan Alley that were the lifeblood of popular music and which bands, especially the most popular (such as his own) were compelled to play night after night. In 1994, he told Frank Prial of The New York Times : "I thought that because I
16786-411: The most common seating for a 17-piece big band, each section is carefully set-up in a way to optimize the bands sound. For the wind players, there are 3 different types of parts: lead parts (including first trumpet, first trombone, and first alto sax), solo parts (including second or fourth trumpet, second trombone, and the first tenor sax), and section members (which include the rest of the band). The band
16940-713: The most popular big bands of the swing era cultivated small groups within the larger ensemble: e.g. Benny Goodman developed both a trio and a quartet, Artie Shaw formed the Gramercy Five, Count Basie developed the Kansas City Six and Tommy Dorsey the Clambake Seven. The major "black" bands of the 1930s included, apart from Ellington's, Hines's, and Calloway's, those of Jimmie Lunceford , Chick Webb , and Count Basie. The "white" bands of Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, Shep Fields and, later, Glenn Miller were more popular than their "black" counterparts from
17094-402: The most prominent shows with the earliest time slots and largest audiences have bigger bands with horn sections while those in later time slots go with smaller, leaner ensembles. Many college and university music departments offer jazz programs and feature big band courses in improvisation, composition, arranging, and studio recording, featuring performances by 18 to 20 piece big bands. During
17248-570: The music business, contained numerous arrangements of monumental status of popular music in addition to many original big band jazz compositions of the era. It was a collection of music arranged by some of the foremost composer/arrangers of the period, much of which was sketched out by Shaw himself and filled in and completed by his orchestrator/arranger collaborators, among them Jerry Gray , William Grant Still , Lennie Hayton , Ray Conniff, Eddie Sauter , and Jimmy Mundy , among others. Shaw rehearsed his new band, (based out of Boston, Massachusetts), and
17402-642: The music business, his interests included studying advanced mathematics, as cited in Karl Sabbagh 's The Riemann Hypothesis . In 1946, Shaw was present at a meeting of the Independent Citizens' Committee of the Arts, Sciences and Professions. Olivia de Havilland and Ronald Reagan , part of a core group of actors and artists who were trying to sway the organization away from Communism , presented an anti-Communist declaration which, if signed,
17556-719: The music's dynamics, phrasing, and expression in rehearsals, and lead the group in performance often while playing alongside them. One of the first prominent big band arrangers was Ferde Grofé , who was hired by Paul Whiteman to write for his “symphonic jazz orchestra”. A number of bandleaders established long-term relationships with certain arrangers, such as the collaboration between leader Count Basie and arranger Neil Hefti . Some bandleaders, such as Guy Lombardo , performed works composed by others (in Lombardo's case, often by his brother Carmen ), while others, such as Maria Schneider , take on all three roles. In many cases, however,
17710-614: The new public schools were segregated, apart from a few in New Orleans . After the Republicans lost power in the mid-1870s, Southern Democrats retained the public school systems but sharply cut their funding. Almost all private academies and colleges in the South were strictly segregated by race. The American Missionary Association supported the development and establishment of several historically black colleges including Fisk University and Shaw University . In this period,
17864-544: The only way blacks could relieve the pressure of crowding that resulted from increasing migration was to expand residential borders into surrounding previously white neighborhoods, a process that often resulted in harassment and attacks by white residents whose intolerant attitudes were intensified by fears that black neighbors would cause property values to decline. Moreover, the increased presence of African Americans in cities, North and South, as well as their competition with whites for housing, jobs, and political influence sparked
18018-509: The plot. Shep Fields appeared with his Rippling Rhythm Orchestra in a playful and integrated animated performance of "This Little Ripple Had Rhythm" in the musical extravaganza The Big Broadcast of 1938 . Fictionalized biographical films of Glenn Miller , Gene Krupa , and Benny Goodman were made in the 1950s. The bands led by Helen Lewis, Ben Bernie , and Roger Wolfe Kahn's band were filmed by Lee de Forest in his Phonofilm sound-on-film process in 1925, in three short films which are in
18172-485: The previously common jazz clarinet from their arrangements (other than the clarinet-led orchestras of Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman), many Duke Ellington songs had clarinet parts, often replacing or doubling one of the tenor saxophone parts; more rarely, Ellington would substitute baritone sax for bass clarinet, such as in "Ase's Death" from Swinging Suites . Boyd Raeburn drew from symphony orchestras by adding flute , French horn , strings, and timpani to his band. In
18326-431: The principal fans of the big bands in the late 1930s and early 1940s. They danced to recordings and the radio and attended live concerts. They were knowledgeable and often biased toward their favorite bands and songs, and sometimes worshipful of famous soloists and vocalists. Many bands toured the country in grueling one-night stands. Traveling conditions and lodging were difficult, in part due to segregation in most parts of
18480-672: The public. The U.S. government established Indian boarding school where Native Americans were sent. The African Free School was established in New York City in the 18th century. Education during the slave period in the United States was limited. Richard Humphreys , Samuel Powers Emlen Jr , and Prudence Crandall established schools for African Americans in the decades preceding the Civil War. In 1832, Prudence Crandall admitted an African American girl to her all-white Canterbury Female Boarding School in Canterbury, Connecticut , resulting in public backlash and protests. She converted
18634-606: The races shows that he did not intend the races to mix. In World War I , blacks served in the United States Armed Forces in segregated units. The 369th Infantry (formerly 15th New York National Guard) Regiment distinguished themselves, and were known as the " Harlem Hellfighters ". The U.S. military was still very segregated in World War II. The Army Air Corps (forerunner of the Air Force ) and
18788-476: The routing of interstate highways through their neighborhoods. In order to build these elevated highways, the government destroyed tens of thousands of single-family homes. Because these properties were summarily declared to be "in decline", families were given pittances for their properties, and forced to move into federally-funded housing which was called " the projects ". To build these projects, still more single-family homes were demolished. The New Deal of
18942-541: The same pop tunes over and over. In an interview, he explained, "'Begin the Beguine' is a pretty nice tune. But not when you have to play it 500 nights in a row." Finally, in frustration, he walked off the Café Rouge bandstand while on the air, and quit the band two days later. He departed for Mexico, and the band continued without him into January but eventually broke up. After Shaw returned from Mexico in 1940, and still under contract to RCA Victor , he experimented with
19096-639: The same roof. Public segregation was challenged by individual citizens on rare occasions but had minimal impact on civil rights issues, until December 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks refused to be moved to the back of a bus for a white passenger. Parks' civil disobedience had the effect of sparking the Montgomery bus boycott . Parks' act of defiance became an important symbol of the modern Civil Rights Movement and Parks became an international icon of resistance to racial segregation. Segregation
19250-531: The separation of other ethnic minorities from majority and mainstream communities. While mainly referring to the physical separation and provision of separate facilities, it can also refer to other manifestations such as prohibitions against interracial marriage (enforced with anti-miscegenation laws ), and the separation of roles within an institution. The U.S. Armed Forces were formally segregated until 1948 , as black units were separated from white units but were still typically led by white officers. In
19404-638: The soundtrack. The film garnered him two Oscar nominations for Best Score and Best Song ("Love of My Life"). He collaborated on the love song "If It's You", sung by Tony Martin in the Marx Brothers ' film The Big Store (1941). On March 2, 1950, he was the mystery guest on the fifth episode of What's My Line? and on August 31, 1952, was part of the panel. During the 1970s he made appearances on The Mike Douglas Show and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson . Many of his recordings have been used in motion pictures. His 1940 recording of " Stardust "
19558-453: The studio. Davis briefly married black dancer Loray White in 1958 to protect himself from mob violence. Inebriated at the wedding ceremony, Davis despairingly said to his best friend, Arthur Silber Jr., "Why won't they let me live my life?" The couple never lived together and commenced divorce proceedings in September 1958. When former president Harry S. Truman was asked by a reporter in 1963 if interracial marriage would become widespread in
19712-615: The supervisory roles they were assigned. Philip Klinkner and Rogers Smith argue that "even the most prominent racial liberals in the New Deal did not dare to criticize Jim Crow." Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes was one of the Roosevelt Administration 's most prominent supporters of black people and former president of the Chicago chapter of the NAACP . In 1937, when Senator Josiah Bailey ,
19866-475: The template of King Oliver , but as the 1920s progressed they moved away from the New Orleans format and transformed jazz. They were assisted by a band full of talent: Coleman Hawkins on tenor saxophone, Louis Armstrong on cornet, and multi-instrumentalist Benny Carter , whose career lasted into the 1990s. Swing music began appearing in the early 1930s and was distinguished by a more supple feel than
20020-554: The three short novels in I Love You, I Hate You, Drop Dead! (1965, reprinted in 1997), which prompted Terry Southern 's comment: "Here is a deeply probing examination of the American marital scene. I flipped over it!" Shaw's short stories, including "Snow White in Harlem", were collected in The Best of Intentions and Other Stories (1989). He worked for years on his 1,000-page autobiographical novel, The Education of Albie Snow , but
20174-407: The three-volume work remained unpublished. After his discharge in 1944, he formed another band, this time what could be considered a modern big band in that it contained what is now considered the standard eight brass and five saxes. It did not include any strings and was based in Hollywood, California, where Shaw was living. He continued to record for RCA Victor, as he had before the war, and limited
20328-548: The tour, the 31-piece band was in the midst of a matinee performance in Providence, Rhode Island, when he was given a note about the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor . The note instructed him to tell military personnel to return to their bases. Shaw was shaken by the news, as he told interviewer Freddie Johnson in 1994: "Everything seemed to pale into insignificance, and I had to go back out on stage and announce " Star Dust " or something, and it sounded so fatuous. Here we were in
20482-699: The vibes of Lionel Hampton . The popularity of many of the major bands was amplified by star vocalists, such as Frank Sinatra and Connie Haines with Tommy Dorsey , Helen O'Connell and Bob Eberly with Jimmy Dorsey , Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb , Billie Holiday and Jimmy Rushing with Count Basie , Kay Starr with Charlie Barnet , Bea Wain with Larry Clinton , Dick Haymes , Kitty Kallen and Helen Forrest with Harry James , Fran Warren with Claude Thornhill , Doris Day with Les Brown , and Peggy Lee and Martha Tilton with Benny Goodman . Some bands were "society bands" which relied on strong ensembles but little on soloists or vocalists, such as
20636-421: The war, swing was giving way to less danceable music, such as bebop . Many of the great swing bands broke up, as the times and tastes changed. Many bands from the swing era continued for decades after the death or departure of their founders and namesakes, and some are still active in the 21st century, often referred to as " ghost bands ", a term attributed to Woody Herman, referring to orchestras that persist in
20790-591: The world of being a professional musician and major celebrity, although he remained a force in popular music and jazz before retiring from music completely in 1954. Arthur Jacob Arshawsky was born on May 23, 1910, in New York City to Sarah ( née Strauss) and Harold "Harry" Arshawsky, a dressmaker and photographer. The family was Jewish; his father was from Russia, his mother from Austria. Shaw grew up in New Haven, Connecticut , where his natural introversion
20944-598: The young singer Mel Tormé . On some of the sides, Tormé was also featured with his vocal group the Meltones. In the late 1940s Shaw commissioned Norman Dello Joio to compose a solo work; Shaw premiered the resultant Concertante for Clarinet and Orchestra with the Chautauqua (NY) Symphony on 23 July 1949, Franco Autori conducting. Shaw again performed the work in Town Hall on 20 February 1950 with Thomas Scherman and
21098-412: Was Artie Shaw I could do what I wanted, but all they wanted was 'Begin the Beguine'". Throughout his career, Shaw had a habit of forming bands, developing them according to his immediate aspirations, making a quick series of records, and then disbanding. He generally did not stick around long enough to reap his bands' successes through live performances of their recorded hits. Following the breakup of what
21252-416: Was a case decided in federal court that brought an end to the trusty system and flagrant inmate abuse at the notorious Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, Mississippi . In 1972 federal judge , William C. Keady found that Parchman Farm violated modern standards of decency. He ordered an immediate end to all unconstitutional conditions and practices. Racial segregation of inmates was abolished. And
21406-440: Was a major focus of the civil rights movement . In Brown v. Board of Education , 347 U.S. 483 (1954), the Supreme Court outlawed segregated public education facilities for black people and white people at the state level. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 superseded all state and local laws requiring segregation. Compliance with the new law came slowly, and it took years with many cases in lower courts to enforce it. In parts of
21560-422: Was already his second band in 1939, he rarely toured at all and, if he did, his personal appearances were usually limited to long-term engagements in a single venue or bookings that did not require much traveling, unlike many bands of the era that traveled great distances doing seemingly endless strings of one-night engagements. Shaw did many big band remote broadcasts. Throughout the autumn and winter of 1938, he
21714-447: Was also pervasive in housing. State constitutions (for example, that of California ) had clauses giving local jurisdictions the right to regulate where members of certain races could live. In 1917, the Supreme Court in the case of Buchanan v. Warley declared municipal resident segregation ordinances unconstitutional. In response, whites resorted to the restrictive covenant , a formal deed restriction binding white property owners in
21868-587: Was because eligibility for federally backed loans was largely determined by redlining maps created by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC). Any neighborhood with "inharmonious racial groups" would either be marked red or yellow, depending on the proportion of Black residents. This was explicitly stated within the FHA underwriting manual that the HOLC used as for its maps. For neighborhood building projects,
22022-460: Was deepened by local antisemitism . He bought a saxophone by working in a grocery store and began learning the saxophone at 13. At 16, he switched to the clarinet and left home to tour with a band. Returning to New York, he became a session musician through the early 1930s. From 1925 to 1936, Shaw performed with many bands and orchestras; from 1926 to 1929, he worked in Cleveland and established
22176-509: Was dominated by steps such as the waltz and polka . As jazz migrated from its New Orleans origin to Chicago and New York City , energetic, suggestive dances traveled with it. During the next decades, ballrooms filled with people doing the jitterbug and Lindy Hop . The dance duo Vernon and Irene Castle popularized the foxtrot while accompanied by the Europe Society Orchestra led by James Reese Europe . One of
22330-458: Was educated in classical music, and he called his new band's music symphonic jazz. The methods of dance bands marked a step away from New Orleans jazz. With the exception of Jelly Roll Morton , who continued playing in the New Orleans style, bandleaders paid attention to the demand for dance music and created their own big bands. They incorporated elements of Broadway , Tin Pan Alley , ragtime , and vaudeville . Duke Ellington led his band at
22484-491: Was evident in living conditions, grocery markets, job applications, etc. As segregation shaped different lifestyles in those that live in the suburbs compare to areas with public housing, the Concentration dimension of segregation played a significant role. Concentration increased poverty in black neighborhoods by providing more expensive and less ideal living situations to African Americans. This rise of poverty created
22638-659: Was married eight times. Two marriages were annulled; the others ended in divorce: Jane Cairns (1932–33; annulled); Margaret Allen (1934–37); actress Lana Turner (1940); Betty Kern, the daughter of songwriter Jerome Kern (1942–43); actress Ava Gardner (1945–46); Forever Amber author Kathleen Winsor (1946–48; annulled); actress Doris Dowling (1952–56), and actress Evelyn Keyes (1957–85). He had two sons, Steven Kern (with Betty Kern) and Jonathan Shaw (with Doris Dowling). Both Lana Turner and Ava Gardner later described Shaw as being extremely emotionally abusive. His controlling nature and incessant verbal abuse drove Turner to have
22792-412: Was not commercial. Shaw valued experimental and innovative music over dancing and love songs. He was an innovator in the big band idiom, using unusual instrumentation; "Interlude in B-flat", where he was backed with only a rhythm section and a string quartet , was one of the earliest examples of what would be later dubbed Third Stream . His incorporation of stringed instruments could be attributed to
22946-488: Was not mandated by law in the Northern states, but a de facto system grew for schools, in which nearly all black students attended schools that were nearly all-black. In the South, white schools had only white pupils and teachers, while black schools had only black teachers and black students. President Woodrow Wilson , a Southern Democrat, initiated the segregation of federal workplaces in 1913. Some streetcar companies did not segregate voluntarily. It took 15 years for
23100-688: Was often heard from the Blue Room of the Hotel Lincoln in New York City. After touring in 1939, he led the house band at the Café Rouge of the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York. He was the headliner of a radio series with comedian Robert Benchley as emcee. Shaw broadcast on CBS from November 20, 1938, until November 14, 1939. Shaw became increasingly disillusioned with not having time to develop new arrangements, and having to play
23254-580: Was passed by the Maryland General Assembly in 1691, criminalizing interracial marriage. During one of his famous debates with Stephen A. Douglas in Charleston, Illinois in 1858, Abraham Lincoln stated, "I am not, nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people". By the late 1800s, 38 US states had anti-miscegenation statutes. By 1924,
23408-655: Was set to run in newspapers. There was bedlam as many rose to champion the communist cause, and Shaw began praising the democratic standards of the Soviet constitution. In 1953, Shaw was called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee for his leftist activities. The committee was investigating a peace activist organization, the World Peace Council . , Shaw was also a precision marksman , ranking fourth in
23562-965: Was used in its entirety in the closing credits of the film The Man Who Fell to Earth . Martin Scorsese also used the Shaw theme song, "Nightmare", in his Academy Award -winning Howard Hughes biopic, The Aviator . Canadian filmmaker Brigitte Berman interviewed Hoagy Carmichael , Doc Cheatham , and others including Shaw for her documentary film, Bix: Ain't None of Them Play Like Him Yet (1981) about Bix Beiderbecke , and afterward she went on to create an Academy Award -winning documentary, Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got (1985), featuring extensive interviews with Shaw, Buddy Rich, Mel Tormé, Helen Forrest, and other musicians, in addition to Shaw's eighth wife, actress Evelyn Keyes . The documentary ends with Shaw rehearsing his new band with co-leader Johnson present and rolls to credits perhaps quite fittingly with
23716-402: Was walking away from the big band, they warned him that he couldn't do that; he had a million dollars in contracts that had to be honored. Shaw didn't care, and responded, "Tell 'em I'm insane. A nice, young American boy walking away from a million dollars, wouldn't you call that insane?" Shaw broke up the Hollywood band, keeping a nucleus of seven musicians in addition to himself, and filled out
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