Bix Beiderbecke
Bix Beiderbecke - died at 28
Background information
Birth name Leon Bismark Beiderbecke
Born March 10, 1903(1903-03-10)
Origin Davenport, Iowa,[1] U.S.
Died August 6, 1931 (aged 28)
Genre(s) Jazz
Dixieland
Occupation(s) Musician
composer
Instrument(s) Cornet, Piano
Years active 1924-1931
Website bixbeiderbecke.com
Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke (March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931) was
an American jazz cornetist and composer, as well as a skilled
classical and jazz pianist.
One of the leading names in 1920s jazz, Beiderbecke's career was cut
short by chronic poor health, exacerbated by alcoholism. Critic Scott
Yanow describes Beiderbecke as the "possessor of a beautiful,
distinctive tone and a strikingly original improvising style.
Beiderbecke's chief competitor among cornetists in the 1920s was Louis
Armstrong, but (due to their different sounds and styles) one really
could not compare them."[2] Bix Beiderbecke recorded many jazz
standards during his career in the 1920s and early 1930s, including
"Riverboat Shuffle", "Copenhagen", "Davenport Blues", "Singin' the
Blues", "In a Mist", "Mississippi Mud", "I'm Coming, Virginia", and
"Georgia On My Mind".
Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Career
3 Death
4 Influences
5 Influence on later musicians
6 Popular culture
7 Name
8 Compositions by Bix Beiderbecke
9 Major Recordings, 1924-1930
10 Cover Versions of "In a Mist"
11 Cover Versions of "Davenport Blues"
12 Honors
13 References
14 External links
[edit] Early life
Beiderbecke's childhood home in Davenport.Bix Beiderbecke was born in
Davenport, Iowa[1], the son of Bismark and Agatha Beiderbeckes, both
natives of Iowa. He was the youngest of three children in the
middle-class family of German origin. As a teenager he would sneak off
to the banks of the Mississippi to listen to bands play on the
riverboats arriving from the south.
Illness frequently kept Beiderbecke out of school, and his grades
suffered. He attended Davenport High School briefly, but his parents
felt that enrolling him in the exclusive Lake Forest Academy, north of
Chicago in Lake Forest, Illinois, as a boarding student would provide
him with both the necessary faculty attention and discipline to
improve his academic performance. However, the change of scenery did
not improve Beiderbecke's academic record, as the only subjects in
which he displayed interest were music and sports. Beiderbecke began
going into Chicago to catch the hot jazz bands at clubs and
speakeasies. He often failed to return to his dormitory before curfew,
and sometimes stayed off-campus the next day. Beiderbecke was
dismissed from the academy due to his academic failings and
extracurricular activities. His time now free, he began his musical
career.
[edit] Career
Bix Beiderbecke was one of the great jazz musicians of the 1920s, the
Jazz Age. Beiderbecke first recorded with the Wolverine Orchestra in
1924. The ensemble was casually called the Wolverines. The group
recorded the jazz standards "Riverboat Shuffle", written for the band
by Hoagy Carmichael, and "Copenhagen", written by Charlie Davis. Jazz
composer and pianist Hoagy Carmichael had booked their appearance at
Indiana University in 1924.
Bix Beiderbecke became a sought-after musician in Chicago and New York
City. He made innovative and influential recordings with Frankie
Trumbauer ("Tram") and the Jean Goldkette Orchestra. In 1927, he
played cornet on the landmark Okeh recording "Singin' the Blues", with
Frankie Trumbauer on C-melody saxophone and Eddie Lang on guitar, one
of the most important and influential jazz recordings of the 1920s.
The orchestra on that session also included Jimmy Dorsey on clarinet
and alto saxophone, Miff Mole on trombone, Chauncey Morehouse on
drums, and Paul Madeira Mertz on piano. When the Goldkette Orchestra
disbanded after their last recording ("Clementine (From New
Orleans)"), released as Victor 20994, in September 1927, Beiderbecke
and Trumbauer, a 'C' melody and alto saxophone player, briefly joined
Adrian Rollini's band at the Club New Yorker, New York. Beiderbecke
then moved on to the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, the most popular and
highest paid band of the day. Although some historians have derided
Whiteman and lamented Beiderbecke's tenure with the large orchestra,
historian Dick Sudhalter, in his book Lost Chords, asserts:
"Colleagues have testified that, far from feeling bound or stifled by
the Whiteman Orchestra, as [saxophonist and author Benny] Green and
others have suggested, Beiderbecke often felt a sense of exhilaration.
It was like attending a music school, learning and broadening; formal
music, especially the synthesis of the American vernacular idiom with
a more classical orientation, so much sought-after in the 1920s, were
calling out to him."
Bix Beiderbecke also played piano, sometimes switching from cornet for
a chorus or two during a song (e.g., "For No Reason at All in C",
1927). He wrote several compositions for the piano, and recorded one
of them, "In a Mist" (after it was transcribed from his improvisations
by the Goldkette/Whiteman arranger Bill Challis). His piano
compositions include "In a Mist", "Flashes", "In the Dark" and
"Candlelights." These were later recorded by (among others) Jess
Stacy, Bunny Berigan, Jimmy and Marian McPartland, Dill Jones and
Ralph Sutton.
The only known sound film footage of Bix Beiderbecke playing the
cornet in the 1920s is a Fox Movietone News[1] newsreel, "Jazz King
Tears Up Old Contract", from the week of May 18, 1928, chronicling
Paul Whiteman's move from Victor Records to Columbia. The orchestra is
shown performing "My Ohio Home" with Beiderbecke standing up and
playing the cornet. (There is some home movie footage of Beiderbecke
playing cornet and clowning with members of the Jean Goldkette
Orchestra a few years prior).
Bix Beiderbecke played cornet on four number one hit records in 1928
recorded with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra: "Together", number one for
two weeks, "Ramona", number one for three weeks, "My Angel", number
one for six weeks, and "Ol' Man River", with Bing Crosby on vocals,
was number one for one week. By contrast, Louis Armstrong did not have
any number one records in the 1920s. "Ol' Man River" would be the
first of 41 number one hits for Bing Crosby during his career.
On his last recording session, in New York, on September 15, 1930, Bix
recorded the original version of the jazz and pop standard "Georgia on
My Mind" with Hoagy Carmichael and His Orchestra, which was released
as Victor 23013. Bix Beiderbecke played the cornet on the session with
Hoagy Carmichael on vocals in an orchestra that included Eddie Lang on
guitar, Joe Venuti on violin, Jimmy Dorsey on clarinet/alto saxophone,
Jack Teagarden on trombone, Bud Freeman on tenor saxophone, and Pee
Wee Russell on alto saxophone. Frankie Trumbauer had originally
suggested to Hoagy Carmichael that he compose "Georgia On My Mind".
"Georgia on My Mind" would subsequently be recorded by Frankie
Trumbauer, who had a Top Ten hit in 1931 with his version, Louis
Armstrong, Mildred Bailey with the Matty Malneck Orchestra, Gene Krupa
with Anita O'Day on vocals, Django Reinhardt, Billie Holiday, Fats
Waller, Frankie Laine, the Spencer Davis Group featuring Steve Winwood
in 1966, the Washboard Rhythm Kings, James Brown, Michael Bolton, Ray
Charles, who had a No.1 hit, won a Grammy Award, and whose recording
of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1993, and
Willie Nelson, who also won a Grammy Award for his recording.
[edit] Death
Bix Beiderbecke had suffered health problems from an early age and his
health declined further in his adult years. He toured relentlessly,
and consumed alcohol excessively, much of it low quality, and often
somewhat poisonous, Prohibition-Era alcohol. As a result, his stage
performances began to suffer. Bandleader Paul Whiteman and his
musicians were frustrated with Beiderbecke's behavior; another trumpet
player famously wrote the reminder "Wake up Bix" shortly before
Beiderbecke's solo on a sheet music transcript.[3]
His spirits also suffered from declining work opportunities around the
New York City area. In September 1929, bandleader Paul Whiteman sent
Beiderbecke back home to Davenport, Iowa, to recover from a breakdown
(caused by alcoholism, related physical problems and the stress of
touring). His treatment was initially successful, but failed later.
Beiderbecke was cutting an increasingly sad figure, and while he
played intermittently over the next two years, when he was well enough
to travel, neither he nor his playing was ever the same again.
Bix Beiderbecke plaque in Sunnyside, Queens.In late July or early
August 1931, he took up residence at 43-30 46th Street, Sunnyside,
Queens, New York City. He died in his Queens apartment alone on August
6, 1931, at 9:30 in the evening from alcohol withdrawal, just 28 years
old.[3] The official cause of his death was "lobar pneumonia" and
"brain edema". To mark the 100th anniversary of his birth, the Greater
Astoria Historical Society and other community organizations erected a
plaque in Beiderbecke's honor at the apartment building in which he
died in Sunnyside, Queens.[4]
Bix Beiderbecke was buried in his family plot in Oakdale Cemetery in
Davenport, Iowa.
[edit] Influences
Bix Beiderbecke in a Gennett recording session with his Rhythm
Jugglers, a pickup band formed — and dissolved — in 1925. From left to
right, Howdy Quicksell (banjo), Tom Gargano (drums), Paul Mertz
(piano), Don Murray (clarinet), Beiderbecke (cornet), and Tommy Dorsey
(trombone)Bix Beiderbecke absorbed the music he heard of New Orleans
jazz cornetists. He was influenced by Nick LaRocca of the Original
Dixieland Jass Band. The LaRocca influence is evident in a number of
Beiderbecke's recordings (especially the covers of O.D.J.B. songs).
Beiderbecke also absorbed patterns from Joe "King" Oliver, and
clarinetist Leon Roppolo. Beiderbecke's famous two-note interjection
on "Goose Pimples" suggests Freddie Keppard, among older New Orleans
players.
According to many contemporaries, Beiderbecke was most influenced by
Emmett Hardy, a highly regarded New Orleans cornetist who never
recorded commercially and died at the age of only 28. Several fellow
musicians said that Hardy's influence was very evident in
Beiderbecke's early recordings with The Wolverines. New Orleans
drummer Ray Bauduc heard Hardy's playing in the early 1920s and said
that he was even more inspired than Beiderbecke.
Bix Beiderbecke was also influenced by contemporary European music,
such as the compositions of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, and
similarly by American Impressionists, notably Eastwood Lane.
Bix Beiderbecke is remembered today for his own individualistic style
of jazz cornet playing, which moved away from his predecessors and
influenced those who followed. As Louis Armstrong said, "Lots of cats
tried to play like Bix; ain't none of them play like him yet."
[edit] Influence on later musicians
Louis Armstrong once remarked that he never played the tune "Singin'
the Blues" because he thought Beiderbecke's classic recording of the
song should not be touched.
One follower was cornetist Jimmy McPartland, who replaced Beiderbecke
in the 'Wolverine' Orchestra in late 1924. He continued to pay tribute
to Beiderbecke throughout his long career (McPartland died in 1991).
Beiderbecke's influence was most noticeable amongst white musicians,
but black players also fell under his spell, notably trumpeters and
cornetists John Nesbitt (of McKinney's Cotton Pickers), Rex Stewart of
(Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra, Duke Ellington's Orchestra), and Doc
Cheatham of (Cab Calloway's Orchestra).
In the 1930s Bobby Hackett was widely billed as the "new Bix",
especially after he reprised Beiderbecke's "I'm Coming Virginia" solo
at Benny Goodman's famous 1938 Carnegie Hall concert. In 1965, Bobby
Hackett recorded "Davenport Blues".
Later Beiderbecke-influenced trumpet/cornet players have included:
Ruby Braff, Dick Sudhalter, Warren Vaché, Randy Sandke, Ralph Norton
and Tom Pletcher.
Miles Davis was fascinated by Beiderbecke's playing, and sought out
people who had known and played with him. Davis' silvery tone and
understated, "cool" phrasing clearly hark back to one aspect of
Beiderbecke's style.
Hoagy Carmichael wrote his first composition, "Riverboat Shuffle", for
Bix Beiderbecke's band The Wolverines, whom he had hired to perform at
Indiana University in 1924. Carmichael wrote the classic jazz standard
"Stardust" after a jam session with Bix Beiderbecke and based the
verse of the tune on Beiderbecke's improvisations.
Bing Crosby was also influenced by Bix Beiderbecke's musical style and
approach in developing his own vocal phrasing and singing style.
Jazz guitarist George Barnes stated in a 1975 Guitar Player interview:
"When I was 11, I heard some Bix Beiderbecke records featuring Joe
Venuti. I knew then that I wanted to be a jazz musician."
[edit] Popular culture
The character Rick Martin in Dorothy Baker's novel Young Man With A
Horn (1938) was partly based on Beiderbecke's life. The story was
later adapted as a movie (1950) starring Kirk Douglas as Martin (with
horn playing dubbed by Harry James). (According to some sources, first
choice Bobby Hackett was passed over because of unreliability).
Bix Beiderbecke's recording of "Jazz Me Blues" appears in the 1955
Richard Brooks movie The Blackboard Jungle starring Glenn Ford and
Anne Francis.
The recording of "Singin' the Blues (Till My Daddy Comes Home)" by Bix
Beiderbecke, Frankie Trumbauer, and Eddie Lang is featured in the 1994
Academy Award-winning Woody Allen movie Bullets Over Broadway.
In the 1958 movie High School Confidential starring Russ Tamblyn,
Michael Landon, and Jerry Lee Lewis, the Ray Anthony character in the
movie is named "Bix". Anthony was a bandleadeer and was a former
trumpeter in the Glenn Miller Orchestra in 1940-1941 and plays a
bandleader in the movie.
Young Man with a Horn was later parodied in the BBC radio series Round
The Horne as "Young Horne With a Man", featuring "Bix Spiderthrust".
Frederick W. Turner's 2003 novel 1929: A Novel of the Jazz Age is
based on the life and career of Bix Beiderbecke.
In 1990, the autobiographical picture "Bix" from Italian director Pupi
Avati was filmed, starring Bryant Weeks, Ray Edelstein, Julia Ewing,
and Mark Collver. Shooting of the picture in great part took place on
location in and around Davenport, Iowa.
Bix Beiderbecke's music is featured in three British comedy-drama
television series, all written by Alan Plater: The Beiderbecke Affair
(1984), The Beiderbecke Tapes (1987) and The Beiderbecke Connection
(1988).
In an episode from Season One of the AMC television series Mad Men,
main character Don Draper's mistress, Midge, uses Beiderbecke's name
as her pseudonym when calling him at his office.
In 2008, the recordings of "Ostrich Walk" and "There'll Come a Time"
by Bix Beiderbecke and Frankie Trumbauer were included on the
soundtrack to the Brad Pitt movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,
which was nominated for 13 Academy Awards. The movie was based on a
short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald included in Tales of the Jazz Age.
For 35 years, Bix Beiderbecke's home town, Davenport, Iowa, has
honored his memory with an annual festival capped off with a 7 mile[2]
run with 15,000+ runners.
[edit] Name
There has been debate about the full name of Bix Beiderbecke: was he
baptized Leon Bix or Leon Bismark (Bix being a shortened form of the
latter). He was named after his father Leon Bismark Beiderbecke. From
the early 1960s onwards, Beiderbecke's living relatives (notably his
brother Charles "Burnie") forcefully claimed that his name had always
been Leon Bix. This was accepted as a fact by Beiderbecke researchers
Phil and Linda Evans.
Other researchers, including Rich Johnson, have found documents
showing his full name to be Leon Bismark. These include records from
the Early First Presbyterian Church to which the family belonged, and
from Tyler School, which Beiderbecke attended. In addition, the will
of a relative, Mary Hill, named young Beiderbecke as a beneficiary.
His mother signed for his receipt of her gift, writing "Leon Bismark
Beiderbecke". The latest major biography on Beiderbecke, Jean-Pierre
Lion's Bix- the definitive biography of a jazz legend (Continuum
International Publishing Group, 2005; page 4) also accepts the name
Bismark as a fact.[5]
Beiderbecke appeared to dislike his formal name from an early age. For
example: in a letter to his mother when he was nine (1912), he signed
it, "frome [sic] your Leon Bix Beiderbecke not Bismark Remeber [sic]."
(this letter is reprinted in Evans & Evans pp 28-29). The family may
have wanted to play down or avoid the more traditional German name of
Bismarck during and after the tensions of World War I, when Germany
was the enemy.
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