In Memoriam

Artie Shaw, Legendary Clarinetist and Big Band Leader, Dies at 94

Artie Shaw, the legendary jazz clarinetist and swing-era big band leader whose original recordings of "Begin the Beguine," "Lady Be Good" and "Stardust" in the late 1930's launched a career that made him one of the most famous and highly paid jazz musicians of his era, died on December 30 at the age of 94.

Shaw's recording of Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine" became a huge hit in 1938 and topped the charts for six weeks, helping to define the sound of the swing era. Among his other hits with his big band and some with his quartet, the Gramercy Five, were "Frenesi," "Dancing in the Dark," "Nightmare," "Back Bay Shuffle," "Accent-tchu-ate the Positive," "Traffic Jam" and "Moonglow." His own compositions were strikingly original, including "Interlude in B Flat," a 1935 work that featured an unusual combination of clarinet and strings. Shaw also worked with such jazz legends as Buddy Rich, Mel Torme, Gordon Jenkins and Billie Holiday.

Despite his virtuosity as a musician, Shaw gave up the spotlight in 1954 and moved overseas, returning in 1960 to concentrate on music arranging and writing novels. He was inducted into the ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame in 2000 and received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 2004.

Frederick Fennell, 90, Innovative Band Conductor

Frederick Fennell, the master band conductor and educator who founded the famed Eastman Wind Ensemble and raised band performance to an art form, died on December 7 in Siesta Key, Florida.

Born July 2, 1914, in Cleveland, Ohio, Frederick Fennell earned bachelor's and master's degrees in music from the Eastman School of Music. He became a member of the Eastman conducting faculty in 1939 and founded the Eastman Wind Ensemble in 1952. He was principal guest conductor of the Dallas Wind Symphony, conductor laureate of the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra in Japan and professor emeritus at the University of Miami School of Music.

In addition to being one of the most recorded American classical conductors, Fennell was also a pioneer in innovative methods of recording. In 1978 he made the first symphonic digital recording in the United States and also pioneered high definition compatible digital recordings.

To honor Fennell's significant contributions to concert band music, in 2001 ASCAP initiated the ASCAP/CBDNA Frederick Fennell Prize for best original score for concert band.