460 Paul Whiteman (1890-1967) Orchestra “Body and Soul” 1930

“It is incontrovertibly true that the Whiteman outfit lacked the rhythmic power and complexity of the King Oliver, Fletcher Henderson, or Count Basie bands, just as the Beatles lacked the rhythmic power and complexity of Motown, Stax, and James Brown. On the other hand, both the Whiteman orchestra and the Beatles pioneered a melodic and harmonic richness that was considered revolutionary for their genres, most dramatically in works arranged by Ferde Grofe, Whiteman’s main arranger, and by the Beatles’ producer, George Martin, who considered Grofe one of his musical heroes” (Elijah Wald, How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ‘n’ Roll, 2009).

“We have a racy, idiomatic, flexible American language all our own, suited to expressing the American character...Every human being has his own value, his own character. It is when this variety is released into music that music strives and grows” (Paul Whiteman, Popular Culture in America, 1926).

Paul Whiteman Orchestra “Body and Soul”