Artie Shaw on "getting out"

Now, A Jazz Moment...

MUSIC: "Nightmare," CD: The Essential Artie Shaw , Legacy C2K-69239 (disc 2, cut 20)

NEA Jazz Master Artie Shaw was the son of immigrant parents and hung out on the streets of New Haven, Connecticut.

Artie Shaw: I was a victim of anti-Semitism to a terrible degree, and I had to get out of that environment and get into something that made sense. Otherwise, I'd have been a criminal. I have great sympathy for rebels, because I was one. Fortunately, my implement was instead of a machine gun, I became a saxophonist.

By age sixteen, Shaw switched to clarinet and left home to tour with a band. that was the begInning of his incredibly successful career.

Music: "Nightmare," CD: The Essential Artie Shaw, Legacy C2K-69239 (disc 2, cut 20)

This Jazz Moment with the late Artie Shaw was created by the National Endowment for the Arts.