If you don't know much about Artie Shaw or why he was important and special, this 2003 BBC documentary written by Russell Davies should do the trick. It's among the finest films on the restless clarinetist and bandleader, who died in 2004:
Marc Myers writes regularly for The Wall Street Journal and is author of "Anatomy of 55 More Songs," "Anatomy of a Song," "Rock Concert: An Oral History" and "Why Jazz Happened." Founded in 2007, JazzWax has won three Jazz Journalists Association awards.