10 Historical Figures You Might Find At A Gatsby Party

4. The Paul Whiteman Orchestra

The 1920€™s was known as the Jazz Age and no high flying party would have been complete without a band. Dancing formed a central part of 1920€™s social events with many new dance crazes such as The Charleston, The Shimmy and The Foxtrot becoming highly popular. The success of a dance based party lay with the skill of the band provided the music.

Paul Whiteman was a popular conductor and musician who wrote more than 3000 musical arrangements over the course of his career, collaborating with some of the best musicians and vocalists of his day. He even recruited the talents of Bing Crosby, Harry Barris and Al Rinker, who would become known collectively as The Rhythm Boys, to record songs with his orchestra.

Whiteman and his Orchestra were one of the most popular dance bands around during the 1920€™s and Whiteman was even awarded the nickname €˜The King of Jazz€™ by the 1920€™s media. Gatsby would not have settled for having anyone less than music royalty playing for his guests and Whiteman and his orchestra would likely have been hired to play one or more of Gatsby€™s many lavish parties.

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Contributor

Recent History graduate living in Newcastle. I like to travel and experience new things, my favourite place on earth has got to be the Great Barrier Reef. To date my greatest achievements include completing the National Pokedex and mastering how to make cheesy nachos.