Posted 6:03 PM by Gene

From out of the blue in a world of MODERN POP MUSIC'S LEGENDARY GENIUS comes the dismaying word that the big-band leader and clarinetist Artie Shaw has died at 94. Shaw had the natural talent and street smarts to be at the top, and a man who at the least could turn "Begin the Beguine" from a Latin cliche into a surpassing dance classic (with a little help from Jerry Gray) was outstandingly that, but his matinee-idol looks guaranteed he'd be remembered too much for his love life, and his fame led him to be consumed with roaring doubts and a passion for "art" more than swing music could hold -- people will debate without end whether the harpsichord really belonged in jazz -- and he silenced his instrument fifty years before his death. We can say just as well as the music could do nothing but repeat itself, as did the Swing Era's survivors, and ultimately the pale ghost bands; but no one can take away his signal role in a generation that made great music without resorting to art. Now he, and his age, and their masterworks are gone, and we're left with TODAY'S SOUNDS OF IMMORTAL BRILLIANCE.

It is just as well too that this obit comes up against the Asian catastrophe, as this will give NEWS HACKS less chance to demonstrate their philistinism, and to condescend to music lovers who don't like THEIR favorites.