A household name during the 1920s, Paul Whiteman led the most popular orchestra of the decade. He expertly mixed together occasional jazz pieces with semi-classical works, sweet and hot vocals, novelties, waltzes, and first-class dance music. His large ensemble featured many of the most technically skilled musicians of the time, he paid his sidemen well, and he was known for always putting on a good show. But there was that title (“The King Of Jazz”) that has resulted in his musical contributions being largely written-off through the years and the bandleader (whose last name is ironic) being thought of by some who know little about him as a racist.
“The King Of Jazz” was coined by a press agent in the early 1920s and the title stuck to Whiteman. If it had been the much more accurate “The King of the Jazz Age,” there would have been few quarrels for Whiteman led the most commercially successful band of the roaring ’20s. But for the “King of Jazz” title to be given to a white musician who never took a jazz solo instead of Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, or any of a dozen other African-American jazz greats hurt Whiteman’s reputation despite his contributions to American music and the jazz age.
Paul Whiteman was born March 28, 1890, in Denver, Colorado. His father Wilberforce J. Whiteman, was a highly respected music teacher whose later students included Jimm
