One of the oldest arguments in music is whether Paul Whiteman (1890-1967) was the “inventor” or “king” of jazz, as he was crowned during his lifetime. Fans of Jelly Roll Morton , King Oliver or Buddy Bolden may argue, and justifiably so. But you can’t argue that for the vast white majority of the American listening and dancing public, Paul Whiteman was the symbol of the (bowdlerized?) sound, feel, syncopation and soloing of jazz. Hey, he even debuted Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue, so give the guy a break!
This pair of 5 cd sets covers the waterfront of his career. And, if for nothing else, he introduced to the public vocalists and artists such as Bing Crosby/voc, Jack Fulton/voc, Bix Beiderbecke/ct, Frankie Trumbaur/cmsax, Joe Venuti/vi, Jack Teagarden/tb and Bunny Berigan/tp, to whet your palate. The first volume includes 23 number one hits, many of which became standards and area still covered today, such as “Whispering”, “Wang Wang Blues”, Do It Again”, “Linger Awhile”, “What’ll I Do”, “My Blue Heaven” “Lazy”, “When Buddha Smiles” and “The Birth Of The Blues”.
Bing Crosby is gorgeously bel canto on “ Without A Song” and “Living In The Sunlight, Lovin’ In The Moonlight” , while taking part of The Rhythm Boys on “You Took Advantage Of Me” . Mildred Bailey is also featured prominently on a rich read of “All Of Me” and “I’ll Never Be The Same”, both overshadowing Jack Fulton, who hasn’t quite aged as well. His later years included a “Travelling Light” that featured Billie Holiday, and both band and vocalist complement each other. The fact that Whiteman was claimed to “make a lady out of jazz”, in other words, more palatable for the masses, has drawn ire, just as “smooth jazz” does so today. Why fault a guy for making a living playing music? We have more to thank him for than for criticizing him for, to be sure.