Beiderbecke was largely, although not completely, self-taught, and the constraints imposed by that fact were evident in his music. By September, he was back in Davenport, where his parents helped him to seek treatment. [74], While he was away, Whiteman famously kept his chair open in Beiderbecke's honor, in the hope that he would occupy it again. He gigged around Chicago until the fall of 1923, at times returning to Davenport to work for his father. Beiderbecke is featured on a number of Whiteman recordings, including "From Monday On", "Back In Your Own Back Yard", "You Took Advantage Of Me", "Sugar", "Changes" and "When". For the first time I realized music isn't all the same, it had become an entirely new set of sounds"[107] "I tried to explain Bix to the gang," Hoagy Carmichael wrote, but "[i]t was no good, like the telling of a vivid, personal dream […] the emotion couldn't be transmitted. Bix Beiderbecke was born in Davenport () in a middle-class familymusical. Thanks to Rich's research published in Bix Notes, Winter 2004, we know now that Caroline's grandfather, Richard Hill, was born in County Manahan, Ireeland. For a study of Beiderbecke's legend, see Perhonis. In the April 1927 issue, bandleader Fred Elizalde stated: "Bix Bidlebeck (sic) is considered by Red Nichols himself and every other trumpet player in the States, for that matter, as the greatest trumpet player of all time". There is a statue of Bix, and a major thoroughfare has been named Bix Beiderbecke Drive. There is disagreement over whether Beiderbecke was christened Leon Bix or Leon Bismark and nicknamed "Bix". The week had been stiflingly hot, making sleep difficult. Lion, p. 203; Sudhalter and Evans, p. 264. Beiderbecke "lived very briefly […] in what might be called the servants' entrance to art", Ferguson wrote. Partially due to frequent absences due to illness, Beiderbecke's grades suffered. "[58], In the spring of 1926, Bix and Trumbauer joined Goldkette's main dance band, splitting the year between playing a Summer season at a Goldkette-owned resort on Lake Hudson, Indiana and headlining at Detroit's Graystone Ballroom, which was also owned by Goldkette. [16] His sister recalls that he stood on the floor and played it with his hands over his head. [46] Paul Mares of the New Orleans Rhythm Kings insisted that Beiderbecke's chief influence was the New Orleans cornetist Emmett Hardy, who died in 1925 at the age of 23. "The overall impression we get from this solo, as in all of Bix at his best," writes the trumpeter Randy Sandke, "is that every note is spontaneous yet inevitable. Classical music was forgotten while jazz spread throughout the land, and men like Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie became the heroes of the young. [113] Those inventive harmonies, on both cornet and piano, pointed the way to future developments in jazz, particularly bebop, which abandoned melody almost entirely.[114]. He was the first major white jazz soloist. Sudhalter, Richard M. and Philip R. Evans with William Dean-Myatt. In pursuit of the former, Beiderbecke often visited Chicago to listen to jazz bands at night clubs and speakeasies, including the infamous Friar's Inn, where he sometimes sat in with the New Orleans Rhythm Kings. To humor him, I looked under the bed and when I rose to assure him there was no one hiding there, he staggered and fell, a dead weight, in my arms. The group was hired for a gig in December 1920, but a complaint was lodged with the American Federation of Musicians, Local 67, that the boys did not have union cards. He played mostly open horn, every note full, big, rich and round, standing out like a pearl, loud but never irritating or jangling, with a powerful drive that few white musicians had in those days."[109]. [84], Critical analysis of Beiderbecke's work during his lifetime was sparse. Bix Beiderbecke was born on March 10, 1903, in Davenport, Iowa, the son of Bismark Herman and Agatha Jane (Hilton) Beiderbecke. While Armstrong and Dodds both claimed that they met Beiderbecke in Davenport, many historians argue it never happened. For the asteroid named in Bix Beiderbecke's honor, see. [72] He then spent the summer with Whiteman's band in Hollywood in preparation for the shooting of a new talking picture, The King of Jazz. Beiderbecke's solo on the latter heralded something new and significant in jazz, according to biographers Richard M. Sudhalter and Philip R. Evans: Both qualities—complementary or "correlated" phrasing and cultivation of the vocal, "singing" middle-range of the cornet—are on display in Bix's "Jazz Me Blues" solo, along with an already discernible inclination for unusual accidentals and inner chordal voices. [44] Mezz Mezzrow recounted in his autobiography driving 53 miles to Hudson Lake, Indiana with Frank Teschemacher in order to play Armstrong's "Heebie Jeebies" for Beiderbecke when it was released. 1 for 6 weeks, "Louisiana" [Take 1], recorded on April 23, 1928 in New York and released as Victor 21438, "Tain't So, Honey, 'Tain't So", recorded on June 10, 1928 in New York and released as Columbia 1444-D, "Because My Baby Don't Mean "Maybe" Now", recorded on June 18, 1928 in New York and released as Columbia 1441-D, "Oh! Beiderbecke remains the subject of scholarly controversy regarding his full name, the cause of his death and the importance of his contributions to jazz. Suffering from insomnia, Beiderbecke played the piano late into the evenings, to both the annoyance and the delight of his neighbors. In this version, in which Hoagy Carmichael also plays a role, the Rick Martin character lives. "[17], Burnie recalled that he stopped coming home for supper to hurry to the riverfront, slip aboard an excursion boat, and play the calliope. Unofficially, edema of the brain, coupled with the effects of long-term alcoholism, have been cited as contributory factors. In 2014, the 1930 recording of "Georgia on My Mind" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[75]. And it astonished even the Wolverines themselves. There is disagreement over whether Beiderbecke was christened Leon Bismark (and nicknamed "Bix") or Leon Bix. [87], Ferguson's sense of what was "right" became the basis for the Beiderbecke Romantic legend, which has traditionally emphasized the musician's Iowa roots, his often careless dress, his difficulty sight reading, the purity of his tone, his drinking, and his early death. Bix was born … [86], One of the first serious, analytical obituaries to have been published in the months after his death was by the French jazz writer Hugues Panassié. [115], Bix Beiderbecke was posthumously inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old and that have "qualitative or historical significance. He argues that this stubbornness was behind Beiderbecke's decision not to switch from cornet to trumpet when many other musicians, including Armstrong, did so. "[99], 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. According to Lion, he was not expelled, but quit (pp. Beiderbecke's mother was the daughter of a Mississippi riverboat captain. I didn't contribute anything, but I listened and learned […] I was now being influenced by these musicians, particularly horn men. The ledger went on to state that Beiderbecke and the girl "were in an auto in the garage and he closed the door on the girl and she hollered," attracting the attention of two young men who were across the street. [76] Bing Crosby, who sang with Whiteman, also cited Beiderbecke as an important influence. "Bix: 'Ain't None of Them Play Like Him Yet", a 1981 film documentary on Beiderbecke's life directed and produced by Brigitte Berman, featured interviews with Hoagy Carmichael, Bill Challis and others, who knew and worked with Bix. "We […] were amazed, angry, morose, and bewildered," Rex Stewart, Fletcher's lead trumpeter, said of listening to Beiderbecke and his colleagues play. Paul Whiteman called him "the finest trumpet player in the country". While in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1926, Beiderbecke joined Frank Trumbauer, with whom he maintained a close friendship for most of the rest of his life. Biography of Bix Beiderbecke (excerpt) Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke (March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931) was a notable jazz cornet player, as well as a very talented classical and jazz pianist. The two became firm friends. [51] Moreover, despite the fact that Beiderbecke's position within the Goldkette band was "third trumpet", a less taxing role than 1st or 2nd trumpet, he struggled with the complex ensemble passages due to his limited reading abilities. He also listened to jazz from the riverboats that docked in downtown Davenport. In October 1926, Goldkette's "Famous Fourteen", as they came to be called, opened at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City opposite the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, one of the East Coast's outstanding African American big bands. He was screaming there were two Mexicans hiding under his bed with long daggers. Beiderbecke emphasized the cornet’s middle register, using simple rhythms and diatonic harmonies. [23] At the invitation of his friend Fritz Putzier, he subsequently joined Neal Buckley's Novelty Orchestra. Bix Beiderbecke, in full Leon Bismark Beiderbecke, (born March 10, 1903, Davenport, Iowa, U.S.—died August 6, 1931, Long Island, New York), American jazz cornetist who was an outstanding improviser and composer of the 1920s and whose style is characterized by lyricism and purity of tone. On May 6, 1924, the Wolverines recorded a tune Carmichael had written especially for Beiderbecke and his colleagues: "Riverboat Shuffle".[49]. [64] A number of Beiderbecke partisans have criticised Whiteman for not giving Bix the opportunities he deserved as a jazz musician.[65]. JACKSONVILLE, Ill. -- Richard Bix Beiderbecke, of Jacksonville, Ill., passed away peacefully Sunday afternoon, Sept. 5, 2004, at Passavant Hospital in Jacksonville after a lengthy battle with cancer. A law student and aspiring pianist and songwriter, Carmichael invited the Wolverines to play at the Bloomington campus of Indiana University in the spring of 1924. "Beiderbecke's style, which was all but fully formed when he made his first recordings, was completely different from that of the New Orleans-born cornet and trumpet players who preceded him, Armstrong included," Teachout writes. ", On November 30, 1928, whilst on tour in Cleveland, Beiderbecke suffered what Lion terms "a severe nervous crisis" and Sudhalter and Evans suggest "was in all probability an acute attack of delirium tremens", presumably triggered by Beiderbecke's attempt to curb his alcohol intake. In a letter to his mother when he was nine years old, Beiderbecke signed off, "frome your Leon Bix Beiderbecke not Bismark Remeber [sic]". Lane's piano suites and orchestral arrangements were self-consciously American whilst also having French Impressionist allusions, and influenced Beiderbecke's style, especially on "In a Mist. [89] "The guy didn't have an enemy in the world," recalled fellow musician Russ Morgan, "[b]ut he was out of this world most of the time. Beiderbecke and Trumbauer joined Goldkette's main band at the Graystone Ballroom in Detroit in 1926. In his mind were conceived the wild, strange contortions of rhythm and harmony which established the basic motif of the popular music of a year ago. Critic Frank Murphy argues that many of the same characteristics that mark Beiderbecke on the cornet are also reflected in his piano playing: the uncharacteristic fingering, the emphasis on inventive harmonies, and the correlated choruses. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. His family was with him throughout his ordeal. "[104] 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. Beiderbecke was portrayed as a tragic genius along the lines of Ludwig van Beethoven. More recent research — which takes into acc… Corrections? Rich concludes, "Bix's lineage is one-half German and one-half Irish." [13], The son of German immigrants, Beiderbecke's father was a well-to-do coal and lumber merchant named after Otto von Bismarck of his native Germany. She pronounced him dead. Beiderbecke died in his apartment, No. Brendan Wolfe, the author of Finding Bix, spoke of Beiderbecke's lasting influence on Davenport, Iowa: "His name and face are still a huge part of the city's identity. Bix Beiderbecke (March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931) was a notable jazz cornet player. Whiteman was large physically and important culturally —"a man flabby, virile, quick, coarse, untidy and sleek, with a hard core of shrewdness in an envelope of sentimentalism", according to a 1926 New Yorker profile. It was widely believed, for many years, that Beiderbecke's real name was Leon Bismark Beiderbecke. However, during a live broadcast on October 8, 1930, Beiderbecke's seemingly limitless gift for improvisation finally failed him: "He stood up to take his solo, but his mind went blank and nothing happened", recalled a fellow musician, Frankie Cush. After his older brother returned from WW1 with some records by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, including “Tiger Rag,” he became hooked on the music, and taught himself the cornet and the ODJB’s cornetist’s, Nick LaRocca, lines. [25] Jean Pierre Lion in his 2005 biography discussed the incident briefly and printed the texts of the documents. "For his talent there were no conservatories to get stuffy in, no high-trumpet didoes to be learned doggedly, note-perfect as written," Ferguson wrote, "because in his chosen form the only writing of any account was traced in the close shouting air of Royal Gardens, Grand Pavilions, honkeytonks, etc. Beiderbecke switched between cornet and piano on that number, and then in September played only piano for his recording of "In A Mist". The headmaster informed Beiderbecke's parents by letter that following his expulsion school officials confirmed that Beiderbecke "was drinking himself and was responsible, in part at least, in having liquor brought into the School. 78–79. "Bix and all the rest would play and exchange ideas on the piano", he said. "[88] He was "this big overgrown kid, who looked like he'd been snatched out of a cradle in the cornfields", Mezzrow wrote. Bixology means a lot to me. [31] He also traveled to the predominantly African-American South Side to listen to classic black jazz bands such as King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, which featured Louis Armstrong on second cornet. His mother was a musician who played piano; she also was the organist for The First Presbyterian Church. [95] In 1977, the Beiderbecke childhood home at 1934 Grand Avenue in Davenport was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[96]. His family was quite musical, and Bix began taking piano lessons at an early age. Another newcomer was Sylvester Ahola, a schooled trumpeter who could play improvised jazz solos and read complex scores. On his last recording session, in New York, on September 15, 1930, Beiderbecke played on the original recording of Hoagy Carmichael's new song, "Georgia on My Mind", with Carmichael doing the vocals, Eddie Lang on guitar, Joe Venuti on violin, Jimmy Dorsey on clarinet and alto saxophone, Jack Teagarden on trombone, and Bud Freeman on tenor saxophone. It is not clear from the official documents if Sarah herself had identified Beiderbecke, but the two young men had told her father, when he questioned them a day after the alleged incident, that they had seen Beiderbecke take the girl into the garage. "Bixie" was a symbol of that jazz generation, expressing its wistful, restless temperament through the medium of the unconventional dance music which constitutes its theme song. Hundreds of young collegians who couldn't recall a strain of Beethoven or Wagner could whistle Bix Beiderbecke choruses. Beiderbecke’s approach lived on in the playing of Jimmy McPartland and Bobby Hackett, as well as in that of the many lesser players who formed almost a cult of hero worshipers, possibly fueled by novels and films such as Dorothy Baker’s Young Man with a Horn (1938; film 1950), a novel inspired by (but not based on) Beiderbecke’s life. [87], The New Republic critic Otis Ferguson wrote two short articles for the magazine, "Young Man with a Horn" (July 29, 1936) and "Young Man with a Horn Again" (November 18, 1940), that worked to revive interest not only in Beiderbecke's music but also in his biography. The Beiderbecke Affair is a television series produced in the United Kingdom by ITV during 1985, written by the prolific Alan Plater, whose lengthy credits in British television since the 1960s included the four-part mini series Get Lost! The two played in the Jean Goldkette band (1927) and in Paul Whiteman’s outstanding pop music orchestra (1928–30), in which Beiderbecke was a featured soloist. One of his compositions, "Stardust", was inspired by Beiderbecke's improvisations, with a cornet phrase reworked by Carmichael into the song's central theme. "[32] On campus, he helped organize the Cy-Bix Orchestra with drummer Walter "Cy" Welge[27] and almost immediately got into trouble with the Lake Forest headmaster for performing indecorously at a school dance. Sarah's father, Preston Ivens, requested that the Scott County grand jury drop the charge to avoid "harm that would result to her in going over this case," and in September 1921, the grand jury returned no indictment, whereupon the County Attorney filed a dismissal of the case. [83] Beiderbecke's mother and brother took the train to New York and arranged for his body to be taken home to Davenport. Bix Beiderbecke - I'm Coming Virginia - 1927 Bix Beiderbecke was born 117 years ago today in Davenport, Iowa. 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