Bix Beiderbecke

[shostokovich]

Article at Jazzpolice.com about Bix Restored (under CD reviews)

[gmonahan]

I took everybody's advice and got the first Bix Restored set. As everyone indicated, the sound was very good, especially on the accoustical Wolverines recordings, and it was nice to have the Goldkettes, though purely from a collector's standpoint, since Bix solo'd very little on those.

I have to say on the whole that if I were recommending records, I'd recommend the Mosaic. I haven't heard all the Whitemans on the later Bix Restored sets, so I don't know how much better they sound, but I was struck by how much better the Okehs were on both the Bix Restored set and the Mosaic, than any of the Gennetts or Victors. The liners offer a good explanation of it (Bix was with Tram on the Okehs where he solo'd a lot, and the engineers there were better).

I don't know if I'll go ahead and spring for the other Bix Restored sets or not. I'd do it mostly to get the Whitemans in better sound. Thoughts?

Greg Mo

[jeffcrom]

I wanted to chime in on Bix. The first book on jazz I ever read was Ralph Berton's "Remembering Bix," mentioned above - pretty wild stuff for a 15-year-old budding jazz fan. About the same time I bought the Milestone "two-fer" Bix Beiderbecke and the Chicago Cornets. It only took until the second track ("Jazz Me Blues") for me to "get it." His solo on that tune got under my skin instantly, and I've loved Bix ever since.

About ten years ago I picked up a used copy of one of the several "complete" Bix sets - the nine-disc Italian IRD box. It's probably not the definitive set, but it sounds pretty good and is plenty good enough for me. Today I listened to disc 7, from 1928. It's all Whiteman stuff except for two tracks each by Frank Trumbauer and by Bix and His Gang. I was struck by several things:

Bix's "Louisiana" solo (both takes) is totally fresh and modern 80 years later. It's loose and free rhythmically, and contains surprising twists of phrase and note choices. I can "hear" it coming out of the bell of some young trumpet player today.

I listened to "'Tain't So Honey, 'Tain't So" several times, and I still don't know what the hell Bix is doing rhythmically. It's so complex that it would be a transcriber's nightmare.

As has been said above, there are some really bad songs and real period-piece arrangements here. But even some that don't have Bix solos have him playing lead trumpet in some passages. Arranger Bill Challis knew what he was doing - he would put Bix on top of the trumpet section to give it a different color and a rhythmic lift that the other trumpet players couldn't provide.

And I'd forgotten how Bing Crosby changed pop singing just by singing in a relaxed, straightforward light baritone rather than in the horrible androgynous tenor most male pop singers of the time affected.

And it's worth sitting through the painful first three and a half minutes of "Sweet Sue" to get to Bix's 32-bar solo. Take my word for it.

[Larry Kart]

From Randy Sandke's self-published "Bix Beiderbecke: Observing A Genius At Work" (1996):

"Bjx's solo on "'Tain't So Honey, 'Tain't So" stretches the rhythm further than anything he'd done up to this point. Only five of the sixteen bars contain downbeats."

There 's a transcription of the solo (one of many) in the book.

[jeffcrom]

From Randy Sandke's self-published "Bix Beiderbecke: Observing A Genius At Work" (1996):

"Bjx's solo on "'Tain't So Honey, 'Tain't So" stretches the rhythm further than anything he'd done up to this point. Only five of the sixteen bars contain downbeats."

There 's a transcription of the solo (one of many) in the book.

I wasn't aware of Sandke's work on Bix - thanks. I just found his website - I'll try to get a copy. And I'm glad someone besides me transcribed this solo - I thought about it, but it made my head hurt.

[Shrdlu]

Hee hee, I'll make you jealous, because, as an excited teen, I got to meet Eddie Condon and his mates on tour, in their hotel after the concert. I chatted to Eddie about Bix.

Also present were Bud Freeman (a real nice guy), Buck Clayton, Pee Wee Russell and a few others.

Pee Wee was pissed as usual, and I didn't get to talk to him. His forehead was red as a beetroot.

[flat5]

Hi Shrdlu,

You reminded me of when I was 15 and went to NY for two weeks (1963). I went out with an old friend of my mother's who lived in the same apartment building that the Jones brothers, Pepper Addams, McCoy Tyner, Donald Byrd, etc. lived in. When she told me this I was so excited! We went to each of their rooms for me to meet them! NOBODY WAS HOME!

Edited January 22, 2010 by flat5

[AllenLowe]

I actually like those early Whiteman arrangements and, of course, love Bix. I love those little rips he does.

Randy, by the way, is brilliant in evoking the whole feeling of that era withough mimicry - listen to the pieces he did on my Jew in Hell CD, based on I'm Coming Virginia and - what the hell was the other one based on? I'll have to look it up -

[Shrdlu]

Awww, Flat5, sorry you missed all those icons.

I've been lucky enough to meet a lot over the years, but only Pepper Adams of those you mention.

In 1963, you could possibly have seen Trane too, and lots of others.

[RD44]

Shrdlu, did Eddie Condon have anything interesting to say about Bix?

[Shrdlu]

Well, it was so long ago that I don't remember much. And I was too young to know what to ask. I had not even heard any of Bix's recordings. I just had the Grauer/Keepnews "Pictorial History of Jazz" book, and I knew that Bix was a legend.

Likewise, I went up to Buck Clayton, and said "You were with Benny Goodman". I'd not heard about the 30s Basie Recordings. Buck did play with Goodman, on one album: the Decca "Benny Goodman Story" set. (Buck's name could not be mentioned by Decca, but there was a pic of him on the cover, and you could hear that it was him.)

The guy I talked to most was Bud Freeman. We chatted about sax mouthpieces and reeds, and he said he used the same reeds as I did at the time: brown box Rico # 2s.

[AllenLowe]

it's interesting to make those kind of "ancient" jazz connections - years ago I met Tommy Benford, and kicked myself much later when I learned he'd played with Jelly Roll Morton. I had no hint at the time (actually I probably had barely listened to Morton either).

[Larry Kart]

Pace, Allen, but a conversation I had with Freddie Green about his role in the Basie rhythm section really did it for me. I've talked some to other players of note who were older, but for some reason (perhaps because Green seemed not to be inclined to talk but then did so forthrightly and very insightfully, albeit briefly), it felt as though I were in touch with a stream that ran deep and went way back.

[jazztrain]

I can field that question. There's the famous quote about Bix's cornet sounding like a girl saying "yes." Let me see if I can find it....

OK. It's in Condon's "We Called It Music:"

>>>

Beiderbecke smiled like an embarrassed kid and muttered something. Then he got up on the stand and walked over and sat down -- at the piano. "Clarinet Marmalade," somebody said. Bix nodded and hit the keys.

Then it happened. All my life I had been listening to music, particularly on piano. But I had never heard anything remotely resembling what Beiderbecke played. For the first time I realized that music isn't all the same, that some people play so differently from others that it becomes an entirely new set of sounds. That was the first time I heard the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, except on records, but I actually didn't hear them at all; I listed to Beiderbecke. When we rushed out to grab out train I was completely confused. Trying to get to sleep in an upper berth I kept thinking -- what about the cornet, can he play that too?

The next day we got up as the train came into Cleveland. With nothing to do but sit and stare at the scenery from there to Buffalo I began to wonder again about the cornet. I got out my banjo. Eberhardt dug up his saxophone and doodled along with me. Finally Beiderbecke took out a silver cornet. He put it to his lips and blew a phrase. The sound came out like a girl saying yes...

>>>

Shrdlu, did Eddie Condon have anything interesting to say about Bix?

[brownie]

The Quad City Times (Quad City area includes Davenport) has some news today about the projected Bix Beiderbecke Hall in Davenport:

Letters from Bix

Excerpts from Bix letters

The Bix Beiderbecke Hall

[brownie]

There´s a complete Bix on-line discography (with images and sound) coming:

BIX BEIDERBECKE DISCOGRAPHY

Created by Jean Pierre Lion

Amended, expanded, and reformated by Hans Eekhoff and Albert Haim

To obtain the complete discography by Jean Pierre Lion in word and pdf versions, click here

Jean-Pierre Lion died last month. He was 62.

His Bix Biography remains the best book on the musician.

At the time of his deah, he was working on a biography of King Oliver. Hope the book will be published. If it's as carefully researched as the Bix bio, it will be one of those must-read jazz books.

[jeffcrom]

In one of my iPods, I have all of Bix's recordings. I've set up playlists for each year Bix recorded (1924 - 1930), with the tracks arranged chronologically. Today I listened to all the 1924 - 25 recordings while working around the house. He was only 20 when he first recorded, and had not yet turned 22 when he made the Rhythm Jugglers sides, the last I listened to today. What struck me, besides his unique style and beautiful note choices, was the authority with which he played, even at such a young age. Some of the musicians he played with were better than others, but good, bad, or indifferent, they were mostly just along for the ride. Bix was driving the bus.

[Late]

Sometimes Bix is the healing force of the universe.