Artie Shaw on "Begin the Beguine"

Now, A Jazz Moment...

Music: "Begin the Beguine," CD: The Essential Artie Shaw, Legacy C2K-69239 (disc 1, cut1)

The late NEAJazz Master, Artie Shaw composed one of the best known songs of the 20 th century, Begin the Beguine.

Music: "Begin the Beguine," CD: The Essential Artie Shaw, Legacy C2K-69239 (disc 1, cut1)

Artie Shaw: When a thing like Beguine came along, my goodness. A lot of money came in. I said, I'm pretty tired of it by now, but it paid for a lot of houses and divorces.

Begin the Beguine was so popular that within a year after its release, the Artie Shaw Orchestra was earning bucketloads of money.

That got to be an albatross around my neck. It was a good tune, and if you're going to be identified with a tune, that isn't a bad one. That and Stardust.

Music: "Stardust," CD: The Essential Artie Shaw, Legacy C2K-69239 (disc 2, cut10)

Stardust was one of shaw's Biggest Hits.

Music: Stardust, CD: The Essential Artie Shaw, Legacy C2K-69239 (disc 2, cut10)

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