I would never suggest you are dreaming. I assume you mean Benny Goodman instead of Artie Shaw? Different? Sure was.
One could be generous and make a magnanimous judgment and say that his was a time feel that was pretty representative of the time feel of most Swing music. I know exactly what you mean and why you feel that you don’t “get” it; and, I suppose, why you don’t like it: on the front side of the beat; unlike the more relaxed, back side of the beat feel of other players. On the other hand, one could also make the assessment that he is too square. Dare I say it?.......too white. In some ways the very reason that the music of that era was so popular; it didn’t deviate too much in feel from the comfort zone of the majority of the consumers at the time. However, hard to argue with what Benny did for Jazz on several levels. Integrating black and white musicians for starters.
One could be generous and make a magnanimous judgment and say that his was a time feel that was pretty representative of the time feel of most Swing music. I know exactly what you mean and why you feel that you don’t “get” it; and, I suppose, why you don’t like it: on the front side of the beat; unlike the more relaxed, back side of the beat feel of other players. On the other hand, one could also make the assessment that he is too square. Dare I say it?.......too white. In some ways the very reason that the music of that era was so popular; it didn’t deviate too much in feel from the comfort zone of the majority of the consumers at the time. However, hard to argue with what Benny did for Jazz on several levels. Integrating black and white musicians for starters.