Paul Whiteman

Press agents promoted Paul Whiteman as "The King of Jazz" throughout the 1920s, which has kept his place in jazz history open to debate ever since. His orchestra nevertheless ranked as the most commercially successful ensemble of that decade, and despite its large size it produced strong jazz performances on occasion; the label "King of the Jazz Age" might have suited the bandleader more accurately.

A classically trained violinist by background, Whiteman directed an expansive Navy ensemble throughout World War I while maintaining a keen interest in contemporary popular music. He formed his first dance orchestra in San Francisco during 1918; brief residencies in Los Angeles and Atlantic City followed before he established himself in New York in 1920. The immediate commercial success of his earliest discs, "Japanese Sandman" and "Whispering," quickly turned Whiteman into a national figure. His polished dance unit drew on some of the era's most accomplished instrumentalists and presented a broad program encompassing pop numbers, waltzes, semi-classical pieces, and jazz. Trumpeter Henry Busse, spotlighted on "Hot Lips" and "When Day Is Done," served as the group's principal soloist from 1921 through 1926. Although Whiteman aimed to "make a lady out of jazz," his symphonic approach did not consistently generate swing. In 1924, however, he presented "Rhapsody in Blue" at Aeolian Hall, featuring composer George Gershwin at the piano, as part of the concert billed "An Experiment in Modern Music." Red Nichols and Tommy Dorsey each spent time in the ranks; only with the 1927 arrivals of Bix Beiderbecke, Frankie Trumbauer, and Bing Crosby—initially heard as a member of the Rhythm Boys vocal trio—did Whiteman field a genuinely significant jazz orchestra. Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang soon added their voices, and numerous sides cut between 1927 and 1930, especially those scored by Bill Challis, rank among the leader's strongest work.

After Beiderbecke departed in 1929 and the band appeared in the uneven yet intriguing 1930 film The King of Jazz, economic pressures of the Depression compelled Whiteman to reduce his roster, which had once included a rhythm section comprising two pianos, tuba, bass sax, string bass, banjo, and guitar. Although the 1930s edition occasionally spotlighted Bunny Berigan, Trumbauer, and both Jack and Charlie Teagarden, the orchestra's style was viewed as outdated once the swing era arrived, and Whiteman largely withdrew from full-time activity, limiting himself to occasional engagements, by the early 1940s. Many of his recordings, particularly those featuring Beiderbecke, have been reissued repeatedly and continue to offer greater rewards than his critics have acknowledged. During the 1970s Dick Sudhalter assembled and directed "the New Paul Whiteman Orchestra," which produced two well-crafted albums of recreations.