(What is eddie_lang? - Edit Wiki)
Videos 1 to 7
 Honeydripper
from The Blues File from WXPN
January 03, 2008
Blues File host Jonny Meister reviews "Let Us Get Together," a recent album from gospel singer Marie Knight. The album is a tribute to Reverend Gary Davis.
|
 Paul Whiteman - The King of Jazz
from The Palomar
October 06, 2007
Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra was the most popular band of the 1920s and represented the apex of jazz to the general public. The title of "The King Of Jazz" which Whiteman was billed as seems somewhat politically incorrect these days, but in the 1920s he dominated the scene and hired the best white hot musicians like Bix Beiderbecke, Frankie Trumbauer, Eddie Lang, Joe Venuti, Jack Teagarden, and many more to play in his band. Paul Whiteman’s talking points were: 1. He greatly enriched American music by commissioning George Gershwin to write Rhapsody In Blue, which became his orchestra's signature tune. 2. Whiteman "discovered" Bing Crosby and featured him in the Rhythm Boys. 3. He gave the career of Hoagy Carmichael a boost by recording several of his songs early in his career. 4. Jazz singer Mildred Bailey also rose to fame in the orchestra in the 1930s. So, what was it that has led Whiteman's name to be dragged through the mud in the annals of Jazz history? 1. Paul Whiteman, being the most popular jazz band leader of the Jazz Age, is blamed for the racism in America that denied African-American musicians the credit that they deserved in the history of Jazz. 2. If there is such a thing as the "King of Jazz" the title belongs to Louis Armstrong, although that may not have been clear to most people in the 1920s. 3. Whiteman is also criticized for not hiring African-American musicians to play in his band, but this argument ignores the commercial realities of the period. Paul Whiteman was clearly not a racist. 4. He commissioned Duke Ellington to write for his modern music series, recorded with Paul Robeson and Billie Holiday, and hired Don Redman as an arranger in the 1930s. Whiteman was generally held in high regards as a person by both black and white musicians. 5. The worst that can be leveled at Whiteman was that he was a businessman. His band was wildly successful, and quite often his music sounds commercial and sweet, especially when compared to the top African-American jazz bands of the era. 6. His interest in making symphonic jazz led the way for generations of jazz musicians as diverse as Miles Davis, Gil Evans, The Modern Jazz Quartet and Wynton Marsalis. I have spent some weeks now listening to Paul’s music and investigating his background and history. I must say that for the number of pieces of music that were recorded over the last 100 years, Whiteman is without a doubt the most published of all the great jazz musicians and for that matter band leaders as well. However, that is about where I have to draw a line! Whiteman’s music is without a doubt the first "elevator music" to ever be recorded! His music is a little to commercial for my taste in big band music. It lacks the spunk that you got from Benny, Glenn or any of the other big names. Orchestras during the early 1920’s were at a distinct disadvantage in that recordings being made at that time were made using acoustical recording equipment. In 1925, most recording companies switched from the old acoustical or mechanical method of recording sound to the new microphone based electrical system developed by Western Electric. Paul Whiteman was an important part of these recordings and produced hundreds of recordings that still exist today. I admit that much of his music can certainly be classified as jazz as it is widely recognized, in that jazz got its beginnings in the later part of the 19th century. Had it not been for Paul’s foresight in recording the amount of music that he recorded, much of this music would have been lost to history. But in terms of being an influential part of the Swing Era, I don’t feel that he made much of an impact as compared with the other greats of the time. Paul by this time had become more of what today is considered a network studio band. I must also agree that the title of "King of Jazz" really does belong to Louis Armstrong! Not that Paul didn’t have the right to make such a claim at the time, but today many would consider that title as laughable at best. In terms of big band music, he is aptly left out of what is generally considered part of the Swing Era and rightly so! Needless to say, I didn’t find the Whiteman band all that interesting. Much of what he recorded was done far better by others. Spencer "Wolf" Smartt Dallas, Texas Email Me
|
|
Log in or sign up to leave comments.
0 comments on eddie lang:
(No comments yet..)
get widgets
RSS feed for eddie lang: 
To add your video to this page, just add this code in your video blog post:
|
