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Bix Beiderbecke

Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke (/ˈbdərbɛk/ BY-dər-bek;[1] March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931) was an American jazz cornetist, pianist and composer.

Bix Beiderbecke

Leon Bismark Beiderbecke

(1903-03-10)March 10, 1903
Davenport, Iowa, U.S.

August 6, 1931(1931-08-06) (aged 28)
New York City, U.S.

  • Musician
  • composer

1920–1931

Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s, a cornet player noted for an inventive lyrical approach and purity of tone, with such clarity of sound that one contemporary famously described it like "shooting bullets at a bell”.[2] His solos on seminal recordings such as "Singin' the Blues" and "I'm Coming, Virginia" (both 1927) demonstrate a gift for extended improvisation that heralded the jazz ballad style, in which jazz solos are an integral part of the composition. Moreover, his use of extended chords and an ability to improvise freely along harmonic as well as melodic lines are echoed in post-WWII developments in jazz. "In a Mist" (1927) is the best known of Beiderbecke's published piano compositions and the only one that he recorded. His piano style reflects both jazz and classical (mainly impressionist) influences. All five of his piano compositions were published by Robbins Music during his lifetime.


A native of Davenport, Iowa, Beiderbecke taught himself to play the cornet largely by ear, leading him to adopt a non-standard fingering technique that informed his unique style. He first recorded with Midwestern jazz ensemble The Wolverines[3] in 1924, after which he played briefly for the Detroit-based Jean Goldkette Orchestra before joining Frankie "Tram" Trumbauer for an extended engagement at the Arcadia Ballroom in St. Louis, also under the auspices of Goldkette's organisation. Beiderbecke and Trumbauer joined Goldkette's main band at the Graystone Ballroom in Detroit in 1926. The band toured widely and famously played a set opposite Fletcher Henderson at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City in October 1926. He made his greatest recordings in 1927. The Goldkette band folded in September 1927 and, after briefly joining bass saxophone player Adrian Rollini's band in New York, Trumbauer and Beiderbecke joined America's most popular dance band: Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra.


Beiderbecke's most influential recordings date from his time with Goldkette and Whiteman, although he also recorded under his own name and that of Trumbauer's. The Whiteman period marked a precipitous decline in his health due to his increasing use of alcohol. Treatment for alcoholism in rehabilitation centers, with the support of Whiteman and the Beiderbecke family, failed to stop his decline. He left the Whiteman band in 1929 and in the summer of 1931 died aged 28 in his Sunnyside, Queens, New York apartment.[A]


His death, in turn, gave rise to one of the original legends of jazz.[B] In magazine articles,[C] musicians' memoirs,[D] novels,[E] and Hollywood films,[F] Beiderbecke has been envisaged as a Romantic hero, the "Young Man with a Horn" (a novel, later made into a movie starring Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall, Doris Day, and his friend Hoagy Carmichael). His life has often been portrayed as that of a jazz musician who had to compromise his art for the sake of commercialism. Beiderbecke remains the subject of scholarly controversy regarding his full name, the cause of his death and the importance of his contributions to jazz.


He composed or played on recordings that are jazz classics and standards such as "Davenport Blues", "In a Mist", "Copenhagen", "Riverboat Shuffle", "Singin' the Blues", and "Georgia on My Mind".

Music[edit]

Style and influence[edit]

In New Orleans, jazz had traditionally been expressed through polyphonic ensemble playing, with the various instruments weaving their parts into a single and coherent aural tapestry. By the early 1920s, developments in jazz saw the rise of the jazz soloist, with solos becoming longer and more complex. Both Beiderbecke and Armstrong were key figures in this evolution, as can be heard on their earliest recordings. According to the critic Terry Teachout, they are "the two most influential figures in the early history of jazz" and "the twin lines of descent from which most of today's jazz can be traced."[V]


Beiderbecke's cornet style is often described by contrasting it with Armstrong's markedly different approach.[108] Armstrong was a virtuoso on his instrument, and his solos often took advantage of that fact. Beiderbecke was largely, although not completely, self-taught, and the constraints imposed by that fact were evident in his music. While Armstrong often soared into the upper register, Beiderbecke stayed in the middle range, more interested in exploring the melody and harmonies than in dazzling the audience. Armstrong often emphasized the performance aspect of his playing, while Beiderbecke tended to stare at his feet while playing, uninterested in personally engaging his listeners.[109] Armstrong was deeply influenced by the blues, while Beiderbecke was influenced as much by modernist composers such as Debussy and Ravel as by his fellow jazzmen.[W]


Beiderbecke's most famous solo was on "Singin' the Blues", recorded February 4, 1927. It has been hailed as an important example of the "jazz ballad style"—"a slow or medium-tempo piece played gently and sweetly, but not cloyingly, with no loss of muscle."[111] The tune's laid-back emotions hinted at what would become, in the 1950s, the cool jazz style, personified by Chet Baker and Bill Evans. More than that, though, "Singin' the Blues" has been noted for the way its improvisations feel less improvised than composed, with each phrase building on the last in a logical fashion. Benny Green describes the solo's effect on practiced ears:

1962, inducted into 's Jazz Hall of Fame, critics' poll[127]

Down Beat

1971, Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Society established in Davenport, Iowa; founded annual jazz festival and scholarship

[128]

1977, Beiderbecke's 1927 recording of "Singin' the Blues" inducted into the [129]

Grammy Hall of Fame

1979, statue presented at , in Davenport, Iowa[130]

LeClaire Park

1979, inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame

[131]

1980, Beiderbecke's 1927 recording of "In a Mist" inducted into the [132]

Grammy Hall of Fame

1989, Asteroid named after him.

23457 Beiderbecke

1993, inducted into the International Academy of Jazz Hall of Fame

[133]

2000, statue dedicated in Davenport

[134]

2000, ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame

[135]

2004, inducted into the inaugural class of the Lincoln Center's Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame

[136]

2006, the 1927 recording of "Singin' the Blues" with Frankie Trumbauer and Eddie Lang was placed on the U.S. Library of Congress .

National Recording Registry

2007, inducted into the Gennett Records Walk of Fame in .[137]

Richmond, Indiana

2014, the 1930 recording of "Georgia on My Mind" by Hoagy Carmichael and His Orchestra, featuring Beiderbecke on cornet, inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame

[80]

2017, the Bix Beiderbecke Museum & Archives opens in Bix's hometown of Davenport, Iowa

[138]

2021, featured in the Walt Disney EPCOT "The Soul of Jazz: An American Adventure" exhibition, which displayed his cornet.

[139]

, a three-part 1980s British (Yorkshire Television) television series (The Beiderbecke Affair, The Beiderbecke Tapes and The Beiderbecke Connection) with a jazz soundtrack in the Beiderbecke style performed by Frank Ricotti and cornetist Kenny Baker, as the hero is a Beiderbecke fan.

The Beiderbecke Trilogy

Alexander, Scott with Pereyra, Dennis. . The Red Hot Jazz Archive: A History of Jazz Before 1930. Retrieved November 15, 2020.

"Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra"

(1986) [1954]. Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans. New York: Da Capo. ISBN 0-306-80276-7.

Armstrong, Louis

(1938). Young Man with a Horn. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

Baker, Dorothy

Berton, Ralph (2000) [1974]. Remembering Bix: A Memoir of the Jazz Age. New York: Da Capo.  0-306-80937-0.

ISBN

(2000) . Festival de Cannes. Retrieved September 19, 2010. William Morrow, pp. 87–111 ISBN 0-688-17074-9

"Bix"

Blumenthal, Bob (2000). "The Birth of Modern Jazz". In Hasse, John Edward (ed.). Jazz: The First Century. New York: . pp. 87–111. ISBN 0-688-17074-9.

William Morrow

(2000). "The Flourishing of Jazz". In Hasse, John Edward (ed.). Jazz: The First Century. New York: William Morrow. pp. 25–51. ISBN 0-688-17074-9.

Brooks, Michael

Brothers, Thomas (2006). Louis Armstrong's New Orleans. New York: . ISBN 0-393-33001-X.

W. W. Norton & Company

Brothers, Thomas (2014). Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company. p. 218.  978-0-393-06582-4.

ISBN

(1999) [1946]. The Stardust Road & Sometimes I Wonder: The Autobiography of Hoagy Carmichael. New York: Da Capo. ISBN 0-306-80899-4.

Carmichael, Hoagy

; Sugrue, Thomas (1992) [1947]. We Called It Music: A Generation of Jazz. New York: Da Capo. ISBN 0-306-80466-2.

Condon, Eddie

(2003) [1959]. The Baby Dodds Story, as Told to Larry Gara. Alma, Mississippi: Rebeats Publications. ISBN 1-888408-08-1..

Dodds, Baby

DownBeat Critics (August 31, 1962). . DownBeat. Retrieved September 19, 2010.

"1962 DownBeat Critics Poll"

Evans, Philip R.; Evans, Linda K. (1998). Bix: The Leon Bix Beiderbecke Story. Bakersfield, California: Prelike Press.  0-9665448-0-3.

ISBN

(2000). "Bix Beiderbecke". In Kirchner, Bill (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Jazz. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 122–131. ISBN 0-19-512510-X.

Fairweather, Digby

(1999). Gitler, Ira (ed.). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-507418-5.

Feather, Leonard

(1936). Young Man with a Horn.

Ferguson, Otis

(1997) [1940]. "Young Man with a Horn Again"". In Wilson, Dorothy; Chamberlain, Robert (eds.). The Otis Ferguson Reader. New York: Da Capo. ISBN 0-306-80744-0.

Ferguson, Otis

(2009). The Birth (And Death) of the Cool. Golden, Colorado: Speck Press. ISBN 978-1-933108-31-5.

Gioia, Ted

Gioia, Ted (1997). The History of Jazz. New York: Oxford University Press.  0-19-512653-X.

ISBN

. Grammy.com. Retrieved September 19, 2010.

"Grammy Hall of Fame Award: Past Recipients"

Gray, Frank (April 30, 2005). . The Guardian. www.theguardian.com/. Retrieved September 19, 2010.

"Solo in Sunnyside: Frank Gray travels through Queens, New York, in search of the late Bix Beiderbecke"

(1991) [1962]. The Reluctant Art: Five Studies in the Growth of Jazz. New York: Da Capo. ISBN 0-306-80441-7..

Green, Benny

Hadlock, Richard (1974) [1965]. Jazz Masters of the Twenties. New York: .

Collier Books

Archived September 11, 2018, at the Wayback Machine. Jazz at Pitt. Retrieved September 19, 2010.

"International Academy of Jazz Hall of Fame"

. National Register of Historic Places. Retrieved September 19, 2010.

"Iowa: Scott County"

Jacobsen, Bob. . Starr Gennett Foundation Inc.. Retrieved September 19, 2010.

"Bix Beiderbecke"

James, Burnett (1959). Bix Beiderbecke. London: .

Cassell

Archived December 23, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Jazz at Lincoln Center. Retrieved September 19, 2010.

"Jazz at Lincoln Center's Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame"

Johnson, Rich; Arpy, Jim; Bowers, Gerri (2009). Bix: The Davenport Album. Barnegat, New Jersey: . ISBN 978-0-9774018-5-7.

Razor Edge

Kennedy, Richard Lee (1999). Jelly Roll, Bix, and Hoagy: Gennett Studios and the Birth of Recorded Jazz. Bloomington, Indiana: . ISBN 0-253-21315-0..

Indiana University Press

Kenney, William Howland (2005). Jazz on the River. Chicago, Illinois: . ISBN 0-226-43733-7.

University of Chicago Press

Lion, Jean Pierre (2005). 'Bix: The Definitive Biography of a Jazz Legend. New York: . ISBN 0-8264-2754-5.

Continuum

; Wolfe, Bernard (1998) [1946]. Really the Blues. New York: Citadel. ISBN 0-8065-1205-9.

Mezzrow, Mezz

Perhonis, John Paul (March 1978). The Bix Beiderbecke Story: The Jazz Musician in Legend, Fiction, and Fact; A Study of the Images of Jazz in the National Culture 1930–the Present. Unpublished dissertation. .

University of Minnesota

Rayno, Don (2003). Paul Whiteman: Pioneer in American Music, 1890–1930. Vol. I. Lanham, Maryland: . ISBN 0-8108-4579-2.

Scarecrow Press

; Hentoff, Nat, eds. (1966). Hear Me Talkin' to Ya: The Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It. New York: Dover. ISBN 0-486-21726-4.

Shapiro, Nat

Spencer, Frederick J., M.D. (2002). Jazz and Death: Medical Profiles of Jazz Greats. Oxford, Mississippi: . ISBN 1-57806-453-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

University Press of Mississippi

(1999). Lost Chords: White Musicians and Their Contribution to Jazz, 1915–1945. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-514838-X.

Sudhalter, Richard M.

Sudhalter, Richard M. (2002). Stardust Melody: The Life and Music of Hoagy Carmichael. New York: Oxford University Press.  0-19-516898-4.

ISBN

Sudhalter, Richard M.; Evans, Philip R.; Dean-Myatt, William (1974). Bix: Man and Legend. New Rochelle, New York: . ISBN 0-02-872500-X.

Arlington House Publishers

. Lewis Porter, Tim Wilkins, and Ted Gioia, eds. Retrieved September 19, 2010.

Sudhalter, Richard M. (Merrill). [http://www.jazz.com/encyclopedia/ Jazz.com Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians

(September 2005). "Homage to Bix". Commentary. pp. 65–68.

Teachout, Terry

Teachout, Terry Frederick T. (2009). Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong. Boston. Massachusetts: . ISBN 978-0-15-101089-9..

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Turner, Frederick W. (2003). 1929. New York: . ISBN 1-58243-265-1.

Counterpoint

(2009). How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-534154-6.

Wald, Elijah

; Burns, Ken (2000). Jazz: A History of America's Music. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-679-44551-X.

Ward, Geoffrey C.

(1993) [1970]. The Jazz Tradition. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-507816-0..

Williams, Martin

Bix Beiderbecke Resources: A Bixography

– A series of nineteen one-half-hour radio programs from 1971. Includes interviews with Frank Trumbauer, Louis Armstrong, Gene Krupa, Eddie Condon, Bing Crosby, Hoagy Carmichael, and Bix's brother Charles "Burnie" Beiderbecke

Bix Beiderbecke Resources: A Creative Aural History Thesis

via YouTube - An mp3 of Beiderbecke's first recording under his own name.

"Davenport Blues"

by Brendan Wolfe, Jazz.com.

"Bixology" (an excerpt)

by Brendan Wolfe, Jazz.com.

Twelve Essential Bix Beiderbecke Performances

Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Society

All That Jazz: Bix Beiderbecke.

at Red Hot Jazz Archive

Bix Beiderbecke 1903–1931

at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.

Bix Beiderbecke recordings

Bix Beiderbecke Museum & Archives