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Bix Beiderbecke


EKE BBB

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I made a search and didn´t find any specific thread on BIX.

One of the most appreciated treasures in my collection are the Sunbeam four box-sets (3CD each) "Bix Restored" with their marvellous sound (JRT Davis remastering).

I had some Columbia releases (Bix and his Gang, Goldkette orchestra, Trumbauer Orchestra and even some Paul Whiteman), a King Jazz CD with all his Wolverines output, and a couple of mixed compilations, but these box-sets are caviar for me!

You can hear the sound of his cornet like never before!

I like his phrasing, his emotional quality, his unexpected notes... but what I´ve always loved is his sound, his full, "rounded" and "golden" chime-like tone. Some scholars and Bix´s friends ascribed his tone to his frequent use of the horn´s third valve, not an orthodox technique among schooled brass playerss in that era. This was highly refuted in an AAJ thread.

Many Bixophiles have tried to describe his tone: Eddie condon said it was "like a girl saying yes" and Ralph Berton described his tone and beautifully clean articulation as "like shooting bullets at a bell".

Again: put your thoughts on BIX here.

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Maybe I should go to AAJ and put my response there on this thread?

Bix was a great player. I don't idolize him, but I really enjoy his music, and every time I hear someone playing in an attempted Bixian manner I realize how influential his sound and his work and the mystique has been for decades!

I have all his known recorded appearances. Looking forward to the Sunbeam/Bix Records "sounds like" release. . . .

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Maybe I should go to AAJ and put my response there on this thread?

Bix was a great player.  I don't idolize him, but I really enjoy his music, and every time I hear someone playing in an attempted Bixian manner I realize how influential his sound and his work and the mystique has been for decades!

I have all his known recorded appearances.  Looking forward to the Sunbeam/Bix Records "sounds like" release. . . .

Lon:

Your knowledgeable posts are always wellcome, wherever you put them! B)

What´s the Sunbeam upcoming release you mention?

And regarding Bix influence... I gues we will hear PDEE again discussing it! ;) And PDEE can be so persuasive! :D

Edited by EKE BBB
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Yeah, well I agree with PD ultimately about the influence, but it certainly was there during his lifetime and diminished in importance afterwards.

Sunbeam/Bix is going to eventually, they say soon, release a single cd of tracks featuring trumpeters that were at one time or another considered to have been Bix by some collectors. Actually, I probably have most of the selections, but it will be a fun release.

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No, I don´t have the Bix, Tram and Tea Mosaic. It was in my wish-list, but when I picked those Sunbeam sets, I forgot about it...

...as far as I remember (Mosaic website is down right now) they included some sides without Bix that I don´t have (my Trumbauer without Bix is very, very, very short)

...if it´s so, I´ll put it there again!

Edited by EKE BBB
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I'm also a big Bix fan, with the complete Sumbeam set. Bix just has a wonderful tone, and is able to have a great flow of amazing ideas coming out of his trumpet. Too bad there is also a lot of pure crap in the set. I think the one about "driving in my Cheverlot" has to one of the worst things ever on record -- and three, or is it four takes of the thing??!! All in all though, the set is a very interesting window to popular music in the 20 - early Thirties, even in those moments when Bix disappears completely in the mix in the lumbering Paul Whiteman's Orchestra (boy are those cuts an aquired taste, even though Lon enjoys them :rolleyes: )

Edited by Matthew
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EKE BBB, cool photos!!! I thought at first I had not seen the second photo, but then as I scrolled right, it looks familiar...was Bix slightly toasted????

Yeah, I thought that too. It looks like he's hanging on to that other guy, and that he's kind of swaying on his feet; that, plus his eyes look slightly glazed...

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I tend to collect stuff primarily from the 50s to the present day, but I do like Bix and Pops.

My problem with these earlier recordings have to do with complaints over the sound quality. Maybe I should check out tht "Bix Restored." Have to wait till I get enough coin. How much does it go for?

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My problem with these earlier recordings have to do with complaints over the sound quality. Maybe I should check out tht "Bix Restored." Have to wait till I get enough coin. How much does it go for?

I've heard the Mosaic (Bix/Tram/Tea) is supposed to have excellent sound quality. I don't have the set myself, but maybe others will chime in with their thoughts.

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  • 6 months later...

Sunbeam/Bix is going to eventually, they say soon, release a single cd of tracks featuring trumpeters that were at one time or another considered to have been Bix by some collectors. Actually, I probably have most of the selections, but it will be a fun release.

Bix Restored, Volume 5: The Bix Beiderbecke Influence (Origin Jazz - Sunbeam) single CD is coming in summer 2004, according to their website.

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I will be picking this last(?) disc up when it comes out. I've come this far with the Bix Restored series...I can't stop now!

Speaking of Bix related music, I highly recommend Davenport Blues by Dill Jones. I have the LP but just noticed Chiaroscuro reissued the original LP + much more on a double CD.

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Speaking of Davenport Blues: one of my favorite versions is Gil Evans's. He playes the last refrain first-- as does Gerry Mulligan, who I presume had heard the Evans version. (Ooops I should check out the chronology-- I'm not sure Gil's version was earlier than Gerry's.) Regarding that refrain-- which begins about 1 monute before the end of Bix's version-- I've heard it on many other numbers from the era and later (usually as a coda). Did it actually originate with Bix? I don't think I've heard it on any thing recorded earlier.

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  • 2 weeks later...

There´s a new Bix (& Gershwin) tribute on Arbors, by Dick Hyman & Tom Pletcher:

19283.jpg

Dick Hyman and Tom Pletcher: If Bix Played Gershwin

Dick Hyman piano, Tom Pletcher cornet, Dan Levinson clarinet & C-Melody saxophone, David Sager trombone, Vince Giordano bass saxophone, Bob Leary guitar & banjo, Ed Metz Jr drums

Description (from Arbors website)

"Bix Beiderbecke and George Gershwin were musical geniuses. Both admired and greatly benefitted from hearing the works of the early 20th century European impressionist composers...Whole tones, the keystone of impressionis, gave jazz a very important ingredient which innovators like Bix and George used to great advantage." -

Tracklist:

Somebody Loves Me, Oh, Lady Be Good I Got Rhythm, But Not For Me Kongo Kate, I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’ I’ve Got a Crush On You, Rialto Ripples, The Half Of It Dearie Blues, S’Wonderful, Yankee Doodle Rhythm, Embraceable You, Sunny Diposish, In A Mist

Already available through Arbors website (for $15)

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