Paul Whiteman was an American bandleader and impresario, one of the most famous figures in popular orchestral music of the 1920s. His name is inseparable from the early public history of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.

In the Pristine catalogue he appears in Gershwin: The First Recordings, documenting early and composer-linked performances around Gershwin’s music.

Whiteman’s world sat between dance band, concert stage, radio and show business, helping carry jazz-inflected American music into larger public arenas.

His page is essential for the Gershwin strand. Whiteman gives the catalogue a tuxedoed dance-band engine with concert-hall ambitions.