I'm a little surprised to learn that Whiteman would be taken this seriously in the black press this late. I don't subscribe to the view that he was a complete charlatan or a person of bad faith, but he seems like someone firmly in the popular music camp who liked a hot solo mostly as a bit of spice--a person who saw his mission as creating high class entertainment that covered all the bases. I guess he still commanded an audience in 1938 and was therefore worth a little press skirmish.
You're quite right Jim. We in today's world have "written off" Whiteman. But that gives us a false picture of the past--he was a MAJOR force in USA pop music and jazz from about 1921 through WW2--after that he was viewed as a bit passé, but even then still had a following. The black press knew that millions of folks (largely white, but not only) would be influenced by what Whiteman wrote, and they therefore responded forcefully. Thanks for reading!
I'm a little surprised to learn that Whiteman would be taken this seriously in the black press this late. I don't subscribe to the view that he was a complete charlatan or a person of bad faith, but he seems like someone firmly in the popular music camp who liked a hot solo mostly as a bit of spice--a person who saw his mission as creating high class entertainment that covered all the bases. I guess he still commanded an audience in 1938 and was therefore worth a little press skirmish.
You're quite right Jim. We in today's world have "written off" Whiteman. But that gives us a false picture of the past--he was a MAJOR force in USA pop music and jazz from about 1921 through WW2--after that he was viewed as a bit passé, but even then still had a following. The black press knew that millions of folks (largely white, but not only) would be influenced by what Whiteman wrote, and they therefore responded forcefully. Thanks for reading!