Michael Stein asks:

>...Artie Shaw composed and recorded a Concerto for Clarinet.  Does anyone
>recall this work, and whether it has been made available recently?

I bought a 1940 version of it a few years ago on an Artie Shaw CD released
as part of a series originating from the UK company Marshall Cavendish and
using mainlly pre-WWII material licensed from US labels.  They were sold
through newsagencies (ie shops that sells newspapers).  I imagine it's
highly likely the track, if not the same compilation, is available in the
US.

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.

The best-known track - to me - on the CD is Frenesi.  Hearing it again
after many many years, it sounded almost like an unexpected entry in Marco
Polo's British light music series.

Richard Pennycuick
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