Revisiting the world of early jazz, Louis Armstrong and Paul Whiteman: Two Kings of Jazz takes the highly original approach of examining the careers of these two icons in tandem, placing them in the context of American commerce and culture. It shows in rich detail how the media of film, radio, and recording, whether driven by the forces of race, primitivism, animal dances, the psychology of sex or the COMINTERN, came at different points in time to crown each of them king. These twin father figures, one black and one white, as portly as they were popular, were both affectionately known to fans and colleagues alike as "Pops," and were united in their belief that the public deserved what it paid for. They are revealed as the cultural bookends holding together all of the popular music in the years that they dominated and crucial to the study of jazz and "The American Century."

At the same time, while Armstrong has long been enshrined in the jazz pantheon as the first great soloist, Whiteman has been largely expunged from the record, his role in jazz history condemned as that of opportunist and usurper. As the Brooklyn rap duo Gang Starr's "Jazz Thing" once put it, "The real mystery is how music history created Paul Whiteman or any other white man."

What this book does is really probe this "mystery" and the causes of his downfall-a casualty of the larger agenda of Communists and "Ivy League Marxists." But Whiteman is shown to have in fact been a champion of black musicians. For example, he signed an affidavit supporting Armstrong against the mob, saved Earl Hines from being fired from a prestigious night club, hired William Grant Still as an arranger, gave commissions to the likes of Duke Ellington, promoted the music of W.C. Handy, and more.

Even though Armstrong and Whiteman came from opposite sides of the tracks and inhabited what were seemingly separate worlds, their careers indicate significant overlap and reciprocity. Sovereign though they were in their respective kingdoms, our two kings of jazz were rulers of domains with open borders. There one could find a free flow of cross-influences, of various sidemen, and sundry movers and shakers who were all part of a collective experience-an experience transcending religion, race, class, and category, with a hared memory of intersecting personal relationships and a common musical repertoire. In short, what this book shows is that Armstrong and Whiteman had much more in common than conventional wisdom has held. Interconnections involving Bix Beiderbecke, Bing Crosby, Jack Teagarden, Jimmy Dorsey, Joe Venuti, Hoagy Carmichael, W.C. Handy, and many others are amply demonstrated. Again, Armstrong and Whiteman were united by a rich common core repertoire of such standards as "Ain't Misbehavin,' " "Body and Soul," " I Got Rhythm," "Rockin' Chair," "Star Dust," "St. Louis Blues," and more.

Finally, what this book argues for is a symmetry to the unfolding of the first century of jazz, providing a fresh perspective for viewing the music at the dawn of the 21st century, with a key role being played by Wynton Marsalis.

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