
One of the most popular and intriguing big band leaders of the Swing era, Artie Shaw took jazz clarinet to a new level of artistry and celebrity. On occasion, Shaw would tour with a smaller group, his Gramercy Five, which became one of the fixtures of small group swing. Come and enjoy a rare performance of this melodic and jubilant music featuring James Danderfer clarinet, Bill Coon guitar, Sharon Minemoto piano, Max Huberdeau vibraphone, Dan Howard bass and Joe Poole drums, to be followed by a screening of Artie Shaw: Time Is All You’ve Got.
Artie Shaw: Time Is All You’ve Got (1985, 115 min)
Anchored by an incisive interview with its then 72-year-old subject, Artie Shaw: Time is All You’ve Got looks back on the five-decade career of “King of the Clarinet” Artie Shaw (1910-2004), one of the most popular stars of the 1930s and ’40s Swing era. Brigitte Berman’s film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1985, and is screening in a new 4K restoration. Featuring: Artie Shaw, Polly Haynes, John Wexley, Lee Castle, John Best, Helen Forrest, Buddy Rich, Mel Tormé.
In an era of separate white and Black bands, Shaw broke the color barrier by hiring legendary African American musicians like Billie Holiday, Hot Lips Page and Roy Eldridge for his bands. Shaw’s restlessness and intellectual curiosity (he’d author four books of fiction and non-fiction) led him to shun celebrity and retire from show business in the late 1940s, with only occasional comebacks after. Known also as a ladies’ man, Shaw’s eight wives included actresses Ava Gardner, Lana Turner, Doris Dowling, Evelyn Keyes, and novelist Kathleen Winsor, author of the notoriously racy bestseller Forever Amber.
Unfailingly entertaining.
Glenn Kenny, New York Times
Superb… A documentary masterpiece… Big-band leader and clarinet virtuoso Artie Shaw’s life story is told sensitively and in detail: He talks about growing up poor and Jewish in New York; his intensely serious approach to music; his love-hate relationship with show business; and his ambition to be a creative writer. A brilliant portrait of a difficult man, an artist who was never happy with himself or anyone else.
Judy Wolfe, POV Magazine
Berman makes history live.
LA Times
Presented in partnership with
Media Partner
Brigitte Berman
Artie Shaw, Polly Haynes, John Wexley, Lee Castle, John Best, Helen Forrest, Buddy Rich, Mel Tormé.
USA
1985
English
Best Documentary, Academy Awards
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Screenwriter
Brigitte Berman
Cinematography
James Aquila, Mark Irwin
Editor
Barry Backus, Brigitte Berman
Original Music
Artie Shaw
Also Playing
Alfred Hitchcock's The Lodger
When a stranger rents a room from model Daisy and her mum and dad, her policeman boyfriend becomes suspicious... Presented with an original live score by Chris Gestrin, the first signature Hitchcock movie is loosely based on the Jack The Ripper murders.
Chen Baker Play J-Pop
Jeffery's Chen Baker band is back (and bigger than ever) to present a set of city pop and jazzy J-pop by the likes of Miki Matsubara, Taeko Ohnuki, Lamp, before the screening of Masayuki Suô's hilarious underdog comedy Sumo Do, Sumo Don't (1992).
Jesse Zubot in Concert
Using a violin, viola and miscellaneous electronics, and incorporating multiple sounds and techniques that relate to his work as a film composer, Jesse Zubot promises a unique and thrilling concert, followed by a preview of the the new BC film Inedia.
Desert of Namibia
A prizewinner at Cannes, Yôko Yamanaka's second film is an acerbic portrait of an arrogant, attractive, diffident, "difficult" 21-year-old woman, Kana (a mesmerizing Yuumi Kawai), who numbly drifts between boyfriends, leaving wreckage in her wake.
Amiko
Teenage rebel Amiko loves Radiohead but hates everything else about her boring and banal existence -- and her provincial high school above all. Then she meets a boy... The micro-budget debut of 19-year-old Desert of Namibia director Yôko Yamanaka.