Dancing’s demise

Something more ought to be said about Artie Shaw’s comment that “jazz continued to move up, become more complex” [“A Life Lived Without Regret,” by Don Heckman, Jan. 1]. What happened, more specifically, is that big-band jazz became a format for concerts rather than dancing. People stopped dancing to Stan Kenton because there was no longer a dance floor. You went to concert halls to see Ellington and Gillespie. And remember Artie Shaw: He was leading a symphony orchestra at Bop City in New York. Playing Ravel and Copland. Not danceable. Much of it was brilliant stuff. But it was no longer pop music.

Bob Klein

Malibu