Paul Whiteman
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Paul Samuel Whiteman was an American jazz bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist.
Whiteman in a 1939 publicity photo
Whiteman and his orchestra, 1921
The members of Whiteman's Orchestra in 1930
A frame from the trailer for the film Rhapsody in Blue (1945)
Rhapsody in Blue
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Rhapsody in Blue is a 1924 musical composition for solo piano and jazz band by George Gershwin. Commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman, the work combines elements of classical music with jazz-influe
Paul Whiteman
…Wooden Soldiers". Whiteman led a usually large ensemble and explored many styles of music, such as blending symphonic music and jazz, as in his debut of Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin. Whiteman recorded many jazz and pop standards during his career, including "Wang Wang Blues", "Mississippi Mud", "Rhapsody in Blue…
Cover of the original sheet music of Rhapsody in Blue
Advertisement for An Experiment in Modern Music in the March 1924 issue of Theatre Magazine
The Rhapsody premiered on a snowy afternoon at Aeolian Hall, Manhattan, pictured here in 1923.
Ferde Grofé, Whiteman's chief arranger from 1920 to 1932, created the first arrangement of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.