America's leading composer of symphonic jazz was?

Question

George Gershwin. Irving Berlin. Jerome Kern. Aaron Copland.

Answer 1

I'd suggest Gershwin was the most accomplished by far in terms of symphonic jazz.

The term was, I believe, originated by jazz musician Paul Whiteman, who was a close collaborator with Gershwin and encouraged Gershwin to write his most famous symphonic jazz piece, Rhapsody in Blue. Also, while Copland occasionally experimented with jazz idioms (I'm thinking mostly of his "Music for Film"), certainly I would argue--and I think it's a pretty easy argument to make--that Gershwin did more to link jazz and orchestral music than any other musician of the twentieth century. The other candidates for the leaders in symphonic jazz, Ferde Grofe, Duke Ellington, and William Grant Still all followed Gershwin's lead in these efforts, but despite his short career, Gershwin really achieved some amazing things in this regard.

Answer 2

prefer Brother John Phillips Sousa, myself.