WHEN BANDS WERE BIG AND SO WERE MEN

Related Content

• Fanatics! Henry Rollins' KCRW Show Tomorrow Night: Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday
  March 9, 2012
• Top 20 Musicians of All Time, in Any Genre: #15-11
  January 10, 2012
• Top 20 Musicians of All Time, in Any Genre: The Complete List
  January 13, 2012
• Top 20 Sexiest Male Musicians of All Time: #15-11
  March 20, 2012
• Waugh's Angeles
  February 2, 2012

More About

• Artie Shaw
• Tom Nolan
• Terry Southern
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media
• Books and Literature

Like this Story?

Get the Events Newsletter: What's happening in town? From underground club nights to the biggest outdoor festivals, our top picks for the week's best events will always keep you in on the action.

Make sign up easy with:

Artie Shaw is one of the most captivating Americans of the 20th century, top shelf in a centenary lousy with geniuses. The poor Jewish kid from New Haven became a monster on the clarinet and led big bands in the '30s and '40s, which ranged in style from swing to the more experimental "third stream." In addition to hiring Buddy Rich and Billy Butterfield, he broke the color barrier by working with Billie Holiday, Hot Lips Page and Roy Eldridge. This impudence plus his lefty politics got Shaw labeled "the communist-loving clarinetist" and he was subpoenaed before the House Un-American Activities Committee for subversion. A handsome devil, he got hitched seven times, two of his wives were iconic bombshells Lana Turner and Ava Gardner. His voracious intellect and love for literature led him to write novels, short stories and an autobiography; he befriended Hemingway, Budd Schulberg and Terry Southern. Tom Nolan, a fine scribe himself, has penned the Shaw biography, Three Chords For Beauty's Sake (W.W. Norton & Company), which reveals the many layers of this complex Renaissance cat based on a series of interviews with Nolan's subject. As part of the Burbank Central Library's Coffee and Conversation series, Nolan will discuss Shaw's life and times and kick off a series of Artie-related events throughout June and July, including memorabilia displays and live music.
Mon., June 28, 7 p.m., 2010