This is one of the later Vitaphone shorts--known as a "Melody Master". These later musical shorts generally were more straight forward and had simpler sets and no real story to tie it all together--just a famous band of the day doing their stuff.
Artie Shaw & His Orchestra (1939) *** (out of 4)This short was one of three that Artie Shaw made at Warner during this single year. It's clear that Shaw was very popular back in the day as it was quite rare for any artist to get a second short let alone three in a single year.
This is one of a multitude of cheapie shorts produced by Warners and other studios in the 1930s and 40s, featuring simple bandstand shots of 15 to 20 piece "swing" bands -- now called "big bands" -- playing 3 to 5 of their standard repertoire numbers. The productions were generally unimaginative, and might now be considered boring if you're unfamiliar with or dislike the music and bands of that era.
