If you were a jazz musician in the 1920s, the best-paying stable job you could get was in Paul Whiteman's band. So Whiteman was able to attract some of the best

If you were a jazz musician in the 1920s, the best-paying stable job you could get was in Paul Whiteman's band. So Whiteman was able to attract some of the best players of his day (well, the best white players of his day, anyway). But the work frequently meant playing boring arrangements for upper-class toffs. There was a fair bit of turnover in the staff despite the good pay. Some of his players just drank themselves into an early grave.