Artie Shaw: Jungle Drums

In the wake of archrival Benny Goodman's hit "Sing, Sing, Sing" (1937), Artie Shaw's own descent into jungle music was inevitable. "Jungle Drums" is Shaw's simulated safari for affluent whites who never strayed closer to the jungle than midtown Manhattan traffic. Bandleaders, in presenting jungle jazz, resembled corporate executives rationalizing environmental pollution because it's profitable. As dance music, "Jungle Drums" seems innocuous enough. But turning jazz into a 1930s Theme Park where the privileged class could reinforce their presumed racial superiority was as socially irresponsible as encouraging children to smoke. "Jungle Drums" should've been titled "Shame, Shame, Shame."