Paul Whiteman
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There was an awkward period in the history of Jazz. When it comes to the entry of Paul Whiteman, authors face the issue of his nickname “The King of Jazz”. Many ignore the title, some play it down, and others berate it. Although he himself tried to change his introductions to “The Dean of Modern American Music” on the later radio shows. The “King” Whiteman continued to stick with the fans.
How was Paul Whiteman crowned the King of Jazz? According to the movie, “The King of Jazz”, he was game-hunting in Africa, and a monkey hit him in the head with a coconut! In reality, what really made Whiteman great were the people he sought to have in his band. Names like Bing Crosby, Bix Beiderbecke, Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Hoagy Carmichael, and many others.
Jazz before Whiteman and others was heard in smaller combos. Whiteman increased the size of his band into nearly symphonic proportion. The large ensemble made Jazz certainly more respectable with the serious music listener than before. This “symphonic” Jazz concept culminated in a concert at the Aeolian Hall, New York, in February of 1924.
This concert premiered the famous “Rhapsody in Blue” with Gershwin himself preforming it with the Whiteman orchestra. That is not all. Music styles from foreign lands were formed into a Jazz “suite”. There were “jazzed up” classical pieces, such as “Liebestraum”. It is no wonder that the program was titled “An Experiment in Modern Music”. This successful concert was attended by the famous conductors and composers of classical music.