Meticulously researched...

Just Jazz

For anyone with an interest in Paul Whiteman, this book must surely be an essential purchase.

New Orleans Music

...a long overdue biography of a long-maligned and neglected icon whose influence and generosity gave us so many of the musicians and singers we revere today....

Bing

Rayno has written the definitive Whiteman biography....The book, which took nearly twenty years to write, is an exhaustive study of the man and his music....It is a most interesting book to read and a valuable reference for anyone interested in the music of that era. I look forward to reading volume two.

The Potomac River Jazz Club

Though Rayno writes in the homemade prose style and with the uncritical enthusiasm of the hobbyist, there is nothing amateurish about his meticulous scholarship, and the facts he has so painstakingly assembled have cleared the way for a fully informed reconsideration of Whiteman's place in American music.

Terry Teachout, Spirituality and Practice

Rayno describes [this book] as "a vigorous attempt to set the record straight." The attempt is unarguably successful.

Mississippi Rag