(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
I'm Doug Johnson with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English. Today we tell the story of a musician who led one of the most popular American bands during the nineteen thirties and forties. His name was Artie Shaw. Listen for a few minutes to one of his many hit songs. This one is called "Frenesi." Artie Shaw plays the clarinet.
On December thirtieth, two thousand four, Artie Shaw died after a long sickness. He was ninety-four years old. He was the last great musician and bandleader of what has been called the "Big Band Era." Some of the others were Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller.
In the nineteen thirties and nineteen forties Artie Shaw was one of the most popular musicians and bandleaders in the United States. Just a few notes from his clarinet could start people dancing. His music sold millions of records.
It still is difficult to listen to an old Artie Shaw recording and not tap your foot in time with the music. Or want to dance. Or sing along with his great sound.
Listen to Shaw on the clarinet and his band play part of a song recorded in Hollywood, California in nineteen forty. It is called "Summit Ridge Drive."
Artie Shaw was born in New York City in nineteen ten. His name was Arthur Arshawsky. His parents were poor immigrants who had come to the United States from Eastern Europe. His family later moved to New Haven, Connecticut.
At the age of fourteen, he began to play the saxophone and then the clarinet. From a very young age, Artie Shaw wanted to play his clarinet better than anyone. He wanted his sound and music to be perfect. He worked at this task much of his life.
He began working as a professional musician when he was fifteen. He left home and began playing in bands across the United States.
In nineteen twenty-seven, young Artie Shaw traveled to Chicago, Illinois to hear the great trumpet player, Louis Armstrong. He immediately understood that Armstrong's great jazz sound was the beginning of something new and exciting. Artie left Chicago with a growing interest in jazz music. Soon after, he moved to New York City.
He got work playing the clarinet for the Columbia Broadcast System radio network. In nineteen thirty-six, he was given a chance to form a small group and play at New York's famous Imperial Theater on Broadway. His group was not the top band in the show. But the crowd loved his music. This proved to be a major step in his career.
Artie Shaw was always trying something new, something different. He heard a young black woman sing and hired her for his band. This was the first time that a black woman sang with white musicians. Racial separation was the rule in many states. Artie Shaw did not care.
The young singer was Billie Holiday. She would become very famous within a few years. Listen as Billie Holiday sings with Artie Shaw's band. This recording was made in nineteen thirty-eight. It is called "Any Old Time."
That same year, Artie Shaw and his band recorded what would be one of their most popular songs. It sold millions of records. It still sells several thousand each year. Shaw was surprised that it became so popular. The song is "Begin the Beguine" written by Cole Porter.
Artie Shaw was well known before he recorded "Begin the Beguine." But that record made him extremely famous. He and his band earned as much as sixty thousand dollars each week. That was a huge amount of money then. However, the fame caused problems for Shaw. He could not go anywhere without being recognized. He no longer had a private life.
Artie Shaw was married eight times. Two of his wives were Lana Turner and Ava Gardner. They were the most famous and beautiful Hollywood actresses of that time. Those marriages increased his fame and made it even harder to have a private life. The fame may have helped lead to the failure of his marriages.
His attempts to create better music also caused problems for Artie Shaw. Many years later, he said people always wanted to hear the old songs he had recorded. They did not want to hear new music he was writing. He did not like playing the same old songs again and again.
Critics have always said his playing was very special. Sometimes Shaw did not follow the music. He would improvise. This means he would play the music as he felt it. He often took a song that everyone knew and changed it so it sounded very different.
Listen to Artie Shaw improvise with a song called "Stardust." It was recorded in nineteen forty. It was another major hit for Shaw and his band and sold millions of records.
Artie Shaw made his last public appearance as a musician in nineteen fifty-four. He said the struggle with fame and trying to produce a perfect sound was destroying him. He was only forty-four years old. He never played the clarinet again.
Artie Shaw wrote several books in his later years. He wrote stories for magazines. He spoke about music at colleges and universities. But he had very little to do with the world of recording or music. During those years however, he received many awards and honors for his music. These included a Hall of Fame award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
Music experts will tell you that Artie Shaw was one of the best of the big band leaders and musicians. Much of his work from so long ago is still fresh and exciting today.
We leave you with one more Artie Shaw song. He recorded it in nineteen forty. It is called "Blues." Listen as Artie Shaw makes his clarinet fly.
重点解析
1.part of部分的
Is there any part of the problem over which you have control?
难题当中有没有哪一部分是你没法控制的？
2.work as担任；以…身份而工作
Two years ago, I asked Gary to continue this work as Commerce Secretary.
两年前，我请家辉担任商务部长，继续从事这方面的工作。
3.the beginning of...的开始
It marks the beginning of a new era in human history.
这标志着人类历史新纪元的开始。
4.as much as差不多；尽…那样多
We want to succeed and do well just as much as you want us to.
我们想要获得成功，我们想要尽量表现得好就像你想要的那样
5.again and again再三地，反复地
We have shown, all over the world, again and again, that once we reach a certain size we become depraved, ungovernable.
我们已经在整个世界再三地显示，一旦我们国家的腐败达到一定规模，这个国家就无法治理了。
6.move to搬到；移到
Troops are on hill tops and from there they move to other areas," he said.
他说，部队在山顶上，他们从那里移动到其他地区去。
参考译文
我是道格·约翰逊，这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。今天我们讲述一位音乐家的故事，他在20世纪三四十年代领导了美国最受欢迎的乐队之一。他就是阿蒂·肖。花几分钟听一听他最热门的歌曲之一吧。这首名字叫《狂热》。阿蒂·肖负责演奏单簧管。
2004年12月30日，阿蒂·肖在长期患病后去世。享年94岁。他是“大乐队时代”最后一位伟大的音乐家和乐队指挥。其他的还有本尼·古德曼和格伦·米勒。
在二十世纪三四十年代，阿蒂·肖是美国最受欢迎的音乐家和乐队指挥之一。只听他的单簧管里发出几个音符就能让人们跳起舞来。他的唱片销量高达数百万张。
听着一张阿蒂·肖的老唱片时，你很难不随着音乐的节拍轻轻踏脚。或者想跳舞。或跟着他极好的声音歌唱。
听听演奏单簧管的肖和他的乐队1940年在加利福尼亚好莱坞录制的歌曲，歌曲名字为“山脊大道”。
阿蒂·肖于于1910年出生于纽约市。他叫亚瑟·阿肖斯基。他的父母是来自东欧的贫穷移民。他的家人后来搬到了康涅狄格州的纽黑文市。
14岁时，他开始演奏萨克斯管和单簧管。非常年轻的时候，阿蒂·肖就想成为最好的单簧管演奏者。他希望他的声音和音乐是完美的。他一生大部分时间都在做这项工作。
他15岁时开始当职业音乐家。他离开家，开始在美国各地的乐队演奏。
1927年，年轻的阿蒂·肖前往伊利诺伊州的芝加哥聆听伟大的小号演奏家路易斯·阿姆斯特朗的演奏。他立刻明白，阿姆斯特朗伟大的爵士音乐是一些新的和令人兴奋的事情的开始。阿蒂离开芝加哥后，对爵士乐的乐趣与日俱增。不久，他去了纽约。
他找到了一份为哥伦比亚广播系统广播网演奏单簧管的工作。1936年，他有了一个组建一个小乐队的机会，他们在在纽约著名的百老汇帝国剧院演出。他们的乐队在演出中不是最好的乐队。但是观众喜欢他们的音乐。这被证明是他职业生涯的重要的一步。
阿蒂·肖总是尝试新鲜的事物，不同的事物。他听到了一个年轻黑人女性唱歌，就让她加入了自己的乐队。这是第一次黑人女性和白人音乐家一块歌唱。当时种族隔离是很多州的规定。阿蒂·肖并不在意这个。
这个年轻的歌手就是比利·哈乐黛。她在几年内会变得非常有名。听听比利·哈乐黛和阿蒂·肖的乐队合作的歌曲。这个唱片制作于1938年，名字为“旧时光”。
在同一年，阿蒂·肖和他的乐队录制了他最热门的歌曲之一。这个唱片销量达数百万张。现在每年还有几千张的销量。肖对于这张唱片能变得如此受欢迎而感到惊讶。这首歌就是由科尔·波特创作的“漫步起舞”。
阿蒂·肖在录制“漫步起舞”这首歌曲之前就已经知名了。但是这个唱片让他变得非常有名。他和他的乐队每周挣6万美元。在当时那是一大笔钱。然而，名声给肖带来了麻烦。他到哪里都有人认出来。他不再有私人生活了。
阿蒂·肖结过八次婚。他的两个妻子是拉娜·特纳和艾娃·加德纳。他们是当时好莱坞最著名、最美丽的女演员。这些婚姻增加了他的名气，使他更难有私人生活。名气可能是他婚姻失败的原因之一。
阿蒂·肖创作更好音乐的尝试也给自己带来了麻烦。多年后，他说人们总是想听他录制的老歌。他们不想听他写的新音乐。他不喜欢一遍又一遍地演奏同样的老歌。
评论家称肖的演奏是非常特别的。有时候肖并不按照谱子来，他会即兴演奏。这意味着肖会按照自己的感觉来演奏音乐。他经常会选一首众所周知的歌曲，然后改编它，让它听起来不一样。
听阿蒂·肖即兴创作的一首歌《星尘》。它录制于1940年。这是肖和他的乐队的另一个大热门歌曲，卖出了数百万张唱片。
阿蒂·肖最后一次作为音乐家公开亮相是在1954年。他说，与名声的斗争和试图发出完美的声音正在摧毁他。当时他只有44岁。后来他再也不吹单簧管了。
阿蒂·肖晚年写了好几本书。他为杂志写故事。他在大学里谈论音乐。但是，他跟录制歌曲或音乐的事情没什么关系。然而，在那些年，他凭借自己的音乐获得了很多奖项和荣誉。其中包括美国国家录音艺术与科学学院颁发的名人堂奖。
音乐专家会告诉你，阿蒂·肖是最好的大乐队指挥和音乐家之一。他很久以前的许多作品至今仍是新鲜和令人兴奋的。
我们将以一首阿蒂·肖的歌曲结束今天的节目。这首歌曲录制于1940年。歌曲名为“布鲁斯”。听阿蒂·肖超神地演奏单簧管。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
