Richard Pennycuick recalls Artie Shaw's Clarinet Concerto:

>It's not a concerto in the usual sense.  It runs 9:32.  There's a slow
>introduction, a section with a boogie ostinato (if that's not a tautology)
>and solos by trumpet, trombone, piano and clarinet.  A short reflective
>section gives way to clarinet and drums in the manner of Benny Goodman's
>Sing Sing Sing, followed by a riff with all the band gradually joining in
>while the clarinet soars over the top, indulges in a short cadenza, and
>it's over.

I do remember the Concerto, and thinking it very exciting at the time.  But
the Artie Shaw track I recall above all others is his instrumental version
of Begin the Beguine: it is simply superb and IIRC was the recording that
pitchforked the song into popularity.  Shaw certainly blew a mean clarinet.

Julia Werthimer <[log in to unmask]>
California, USA