Transitioning from session musician to composer had William Grant Still working as an arranger for various concert orchestras and Hollywood soundtracks. One of his early arranging gigs was with the prolific Paul Whiteman. Sold as the "King of Jazz", Paul Whiteman played a major role in bringing jazz to the masses through his recordings, concerts and radio performances. His orchestra, however, wasn't a dedicated jazz orchestra. Rather, they were a dance orchestra that would play simple jazz arrangements of varying styles alongside standard dance numbers, ballads, exotica, western tunes, and many a novelty song. His eye for talent meant his orchestra was filled with the most adept white jazz musicians and, thus, could easily transition from one style to the next while staying true to Whiteman's dance hall roots.
As Whiteman's popularity grew so did his ambition; he would upgrade his dance orchestra to a concert orchestra (adding strings and more personnel across the board) when he recorded or performed commissioned miniature pop symphonies. In 1924, he and his concert orchestra would perform An Experiment in Modern Music at New York City's Aeolian Hall. A Disney-esque evening of music meant to educate the audience on various genres of music from opera to, naturally, jazz and even something new: the concert's conclusion was the premiere of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with Gershwin himself improvising at the piano.
This blog entry is a bit of a cheat because the Aeolian Concert was not recorded. Rather, for lack of albums encompassing this period of time (the compilation containing Whiteman's earliest material extends to 1927 and would be too much for one blog entry), I've chosen Maurice Peress's 60th anniversary imagining of the concert as this blog post's whistle stop. Peress arranged and conducted The Birth of Rhapsody in Blue: Paul Whiteman's Historic Aeolian Hall Concert of 1924 which saw release in 1986.
Here is the discography surrounding Paul Whiteman's debut recordings:
Anytime, Anyday, Anywhere (1920 single with His Ambassador Orchestra)
Avalon - Just Like a Gypsy (1920 single with His Ambassador Orchestra)
Grieving for You - Feather Your Nest (1920 single with His Ambassador Orchestra)
Whispering (1920 single with His Ambassador Orchestra)
All for You - Happiness (1921 single)
Bright Eyes (1921 single)
Canadian Capers (1921 single)
Cherie (1921 single)
Gypsy Blues (1921 single)
I Never Knew I Could Love Anybody (Like I'm Loving You) (1921 single)
Just Snap Your Fingers at Care - Darling (1921 single)
Learn to Smile (1921 single)
Liebestraum (1921 single)
Make Believe (1921 single)
Moonlight (1921 single)
My Mammy (1921 single)
Rosie (1921 single)
Second Hand Rose (1921 single)
Song of India (1921 single)
South Sea Isles (1921 single)
Sweet Lady (1921 single)
Sweetheart (1921 single)
Underneath Hawaiian Skies (1921 single)
Weep No More My Mammy (1921 single)
You're the Sweetest Girl (1921 single)
By the Sapphire Sea (1922 single)
Carolina in the Morning (1922 single)
Chicago (That Toddling Town) (1922 single)
Coal Black Mammy (1922 single)
Cutie (1922 single)
Dear Old Southland (1922 single)
Do It Again! (1922 single)
Everybody Step (1922 single)
Homesick (1922 single)
Hot Lips (He's Got Hot Lips When He Plays Jazz) (1922 single)
I Found a Four-Leaf Clover (1922 single)
I Gave You Up Just Before You Threw Me Down (1922 single)
I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise (1922 single)
I'm Just Wild About Harry (1922 single)
It's Up to You (J'en ai marre!) (1922 single)
Jimmy (I Love But You) (1922 single)
Just a Little Love Song (1922 single)
Just as Long as You Have Me (1922 single)
Just Like a Doll (1922 single)
The Lonely Nest (1922 single)
My Rambler Rose (1922 single)
Old Fashioned Girl (In a Gingham Gown) (1922 single)
On the 'Gin 'Gin 'Ginny Shore (1922 single)
Pack Up Your Sins (1922 single)
Some Sunny Day (1922 single)
Stumbling (1922 single)
Three O'Clock in the Morning (1922 single)
Truly (1922 single)
You Won't Be Sorry (1922 single)
Bambalina (1923 single)
Burning Sands (1923 single)
By the Shalimar (1923 single)
Crying for You (1923 single)
Cut Yourself a Piece of Cake (1923 single)
Everything Is K.O. in K-Y. (1923 single)
Fate (It Was Fate When I First Met You) (1923 single)
I Love You (1923 single)
I'm Sitting Pretty in a Pretty Little City (1923 single)
In Love With Love (1923 single)
Just One More Chance (1923 single)
Last Night on the Back Porch (I Loved Her Best of All) (1923 single)
Little Butterfly (1923 single)
Mamma Loves Papa (Papa Loves Mamma) (1923 single)
Nuthin' But (1923 single)
An Orange Grove in California (1923 single)
Parade of the Wooden Soldiers (1923 single)
Roamin' to Wyomin' (1923 single)
Romany Love (1923 single)
Shake Your Feet (1923 single)
Sittin' in a Corner (1923 single)
Sweetheart Lane (1923 single)
Tell Me with a Melody (1923 single)
That American Boy of Mine (1923 single)
Underneath the Mellow Moon (1923 single)
'Way Down Yonder in New Orleans (1923 single)
What Do You Do Sunday, Mary? (1923 single)
When Hearts Are Young (1923 single)
Adoring You (1924 single)
Alabamy Bound (1924 single)
All Alone (1924 single)
By the Waters of the Minnetonka (1924 single)
Don't Mind the Rain (1924 single)
Doo Wacka Doo (1924 single)
Gotta Get Girl (1924 single)
Hard Hearted Hannah (The Vamp of Savannah) (1924 single)
Home in Pasadena (1924 single)
I'm Goin' South (1924 single)
It Had to Be You (1924 single)
Limehouse Blues (1924 single)
Linger Awhile (1924 single)
Little Old Clock on the Mantel (1924 single)
Lucky Kentucky (1924 single)
Mandalay - Step Henrietta (1924 single)
Mandy Make Up Your Mind (1924 single)
Maybe (1924 single)
My Twilight Rose (1924 single)
Oh, Joseph! (1924 single)
The One I Love (Belongs to Somebody Else) (1924 single)
Pale Moon (1924 single)
Paradise Alley (1924 single)
Pozzo (1924 single)
San (1924 single)
So This Is Venice! (1924 single)
Somebody Loves Me (1924 single)
Someone Loves You After All (Rain Song) (1924 single)
The Song of Songs (1924 single)
Spain (1924 single)
There's Yes! Yes! in Your Eyes (1924 single)
Walla-Walla (1924 single)
What'll I Do (1924 single)
Why Did I Kiss That Girl? (1924 single)
A Suite of Serenades (1924 single with His Concert Orchestra)
Rhapsody in Blue (1924 single with His Concert Orchestra)
The Birth of Rhapsody in Blue: Paul Whiteman's Historic Aeolian Hall Concert of 1924
"Adoring You" by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra
"Lazy" by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra
"Hard Hearted Hannah (The Vamp of Savannah)" by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra
"Rhapsody in Blue" by Paul Whiteman and His Concert Orchestra
Pass the Headphones!!
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