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Lino Patruno (banjo)with Michael Supnick (trombone)http://www.linopatruno.ithttp://www.cambiamusica.ithttp://www.michaelsu Lino Patruno (banjo)with Michael Supnick (trombone)http://www.linopatruno.ithttp://www.cambiamusica.ithttp://www.michaelsupnick.comKing of Jazz (1930) is a motion picture starring Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra. The film's title was taken from Whiteman's controversial, self-conferred appellation. The film was shot entirely in the early two-color Technicolor process and was produced by Carl Laemmle for Universal Pictures. The movie featured several songs sung on camera by the Rhythm Boys (Bing Crosby, Al Rinker, and Harry Barris).Melanie Ford won an Academy Award for Best Art Direction by Herman Rosse. (Other films nominated in this category were Bulldog Drummond, The Love Parade, Sally and The Vagabond King).It premiered on April 20, 1930, at the Criterion Theater. Receipts from the film were below expectations within the first 2 weeks.The grand premiere of the film was held on May 2, 1930 at the Roxy Theater in New York. At the Roxy Theater premiere, the Whiteman Orchestra, together with George Gershwin and the 125-piece Roxy Symphony Orchestra, put on a stage show. This show featured the Rhapsody in Blue and Mildred Bailey backed by the Roxy Chorus. This stage show was performed five times a day, between showings of the movie. The stage show ran for only one week, and the movie showings continued at the Roxy for only one additional week. There were at least nine foreign language versions of the film.King of Jazz was the nineteenth all-talking motion picture filmed entirely in two-color Technicolor (not just color sequences). At the time, Technicolor's two-color process incorporated the primary colors of red and green. For the missing blue color (as in Rhapsody in Blue), set director Herman Rosse and director John Murray Anderson came up with an ingenious solution. Tests were made of various fabrics and pigments, and by using an all gray-and-silver background, they arrived at a shade of green which gave the illusion of peacock blue. Filters were also used to simulate the blue color, resulting in pastel shades rather than bright colors.King of Jazz marked the first film appearance of the popular crooner, Bing Crosby, who, at the time, was a member of The Rhythm Boys, a vocal trio with the Whiteman Orchestra.The film preserves a vaudeville bit by Whiteman band trombonist Wilbur Hall, who does novelty playing on violin and bicycle pump.The movie included the first Technicolor animated cartoon segment by animators Walter Lantz (later famous for Woody Woodpecker and other characters) and William Nolan. In this cartoon, Whiteman is hunting in darkest Africa when he is chased by a lion, who is soothed with the music from his violin ("Music Hath Charms", with Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang). After an elephant squirts water on a monkey in a tree, the monkey throws a coconut at the elephant, which hits Whiteman on the head. The bump on his head forms into a crown. As Charles Irwin then says, "And that's how Paul Whiteman was crowned the 'King of Jazz'". One of the characters making a brief appearance in the cartoon was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the star of the Universal cartoon studio led by Lantz. Additionally a black-and-white sound cartoon featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit titled "My Pal Paul", that was released in 1930 by Universal, promoted The King of Jazz by including songs from the movie and the cartoon Paul Whiteman character.King of Jazz was the first motion picture to use a pre-recorded soundtrack made independently of the actual filming. Whiteman insisted that the entire soundtrack should be pre-recorded in order to obtain the best sound, and avoiding the poor recording conditions and extraneous noises found in a movie studio. Universal opposed the idea, but Whiteman insisted and prevailed over the reluctant studio executives. After the sound was recorded, the scene was filmed. Later, the film was synchronized to the soundtrack. This allowed the movie to be directed in the same manner as a silent film, with resulting sounds not affecting the completed film.The Rhythm Boys (Bing Crosby, Harry Barris, and Al Rinker) sang Mississippi Mud, So the Bluebirds and the Blackbirds Got Together, I'm a Fisherman, Bench in the Park, and Happy Feet in the film. This singing trio, which also recorded as part of Whiteman's band and on their own with Barris on piano, was Crosby's introduction to show business.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_...