Fletcher Henderson: Whiteman Stomp

Like an ace reporter, Fletcher Henderson always got there first. Three months before self-crowned "King of Jazz" Paul Whiteman could wax Don Redman's arrangement of Fats Waller's tribute, Fletcher scooped "Whiteman Stomp." Henderson's charts such as "King Porter Stomp" later helped crown Benny Goodman "King of Swing." Scoop himself, though, was never coronated. Sometimes it's better to arrive late, after things settle down. This track, for instance, is a fascinating but ultimately bewildering kaleidoscope, as artistically ambitious as another Whiteman commission, Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue (1924), yet so insistently unpredictable it's scary. "Whiteman Stomp" must be heard to be disbelieved.