Feb. 12 is Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. That was the reason why Paul Whiteman decided to hold a concert that day in 1924.
Paul Whiteman was the King of Jazz, and he was a king with a vision: to meld an orchestral approach with the burgeoning sound of American jazz. To many, this was seen as a fanciful idea. After all, jazz was played by small bands in speakeasy nightclubs. Orchestra, by large bands in grandiose concert halls. Jazz was all about embracing improvisation. Orchestra favored the assiduous process of perfecting the score. Jazz was seen as being more “black.” Orchestra, more “white.”
But Whiteman was above such talk — he was the king after all. What better day to make a statement to the world than performing on Lincoln’s birthday? What better day to express his vision? But to make his vision a reality, he needed the best. He needed Jacob Gershowitz.
Better known as George Gershwin, the 25-year-old was just beginning to earn a reputation in the world of music. A few years prior, he’d written his first No. 1 hit, and now he was composing shows for the stage. But that this would be his station in life was never a given.
Born into a poor, Jewish-immigrant family, his first exposure to the arts came from the Yiddish theater scene of the Lower East Side. He didn’t receive any formal training until his teenage years. And by the time he was 15, he’d dropped out of school to
