Louis Armstrong & Paul Whiteman: Two Kings of Jazz

American Music Teacher, April-May, 2005 by Richard A. Crosby

Louis Armstrong & Paul Whiteman: Two Kings of Jazz, by Joshua Berrett. Yale University Press (P.O. Box 209040, New Haven, CT 06520), 2004. 242pp. $30.

This book provides a fascinating picture of two towering figures in the development of jazz: one, Paul Whiteman, is now largely overlooked in favor of Louis Armstrong, typically seen as the "King of Jazz." But it was not always so--that title was once given to Whiteman--and Joshua Berrett makes a compelling case for the contributions of the classically trained Whiteman, a musician whose efforts to promote "symphonic jazz" led to the commissioning of George Gershwin to create his epochal Rhapsody in Blue.

Whiteman was well ahead of his time, hiring black musicians and fiercely defending them when it was not politically correct to do so. One also finds that many great names in the history of American jazz and popular music, such as Bing Crosby, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Jack Teagarden and Bix Beiderbecke, honed their craft as part of Whiteman's organization. Whiteman's major role was promoter and impresario, in charge of hiring the best performers and arrangers in the business, such as Ferde Grofe and Bill Challis, while Armstrong clearly was more elemental in creating and performing talent.

Growing up fatherless in New Orleans (in contrast to Whiteman's childhood under a dictatorial father in Denver), Armstrong found "father figures" who provided him with guidance and opportunities, including Joe "King" Oliver and his eventual manager Joe Glazer. The book traces Armstrong's career from his days with Fletcher Henderson's band to his final years with his recordings of "Hello Dolly! "and "What a Wonderful World." By the time of Armstrong's heyday, Whiteman had been eclipsed, his career falling into decline, after it peaked around 1930. But the two men held each other in high esteem regardless of the opinions of those who tried to dictate public taste, and the author makes a strong case for each man's remarkable contributions.

Even a non-enthusiast for jazz would have to admit that Berrett's enthusiasm for his subject is infectious. His gift includes an ability to describe jazz and popular tunes in a way that even a reader who has never heard the music before gets a sense of experiencing it. While it is sometimes difficult to follow a timeline in this book, which bends one's sense of time in a manner reminiscent of Gabriel Garcia Marquez in his One Hundred Years of Solitude, this does not in any way detract from the story's engaging nature. Both the average reader and the specialist will come away with a profound appreciation for these two artists and their contributions to the American musical scene. Reviewed by Richard A. Crosby, Richmond, Kentucky.