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".
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.
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, which was on the Paul Whiteman label switch 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 one of his last recording sessions in New York on September 15, 1930, he 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.
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 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.
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.
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."
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."
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.
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.
Compositions by Bix Beiderbecke
Bix Beiderbecke wrote or co-wrote six instrumental compositions during his career:
- "Davenport Blues", 1925
- "In a Mist", also known as "Bixology", 1927
- "For No Reason at All in C", 1927, with Frankie Trumbauer
- "Candlelights", 1930
- "Flashes", 1931
- "In the Dark", 1931
Two additional compositions were attributed to him by two other jazz composers:
- "Betcha I Getcha", attributed to Bix Beiderbecke as a co-composer by Joe Venuti, the composer of the song
- "Cloudy", attributed to Bix Beiderbecke by composer Charlie Davis as a composition from circa 1924 [Bix, Jean Pierre Lion, 2004]
Major Recordings, 1924-1930
Bix Beiderbecke's first recordings were as a member of the Wolverine Orchestra for Gennett:
1) "Fidgety Feet"/"Jazz Me Blues", recorded on February 18, 1924 in Richmond, Indiana and released as Gennett 5408.
2) "Oh Baby"/"Copenhagen", recorded on May 6, 1924 and released as Gennett 5453.
3) "Riverboat Shuffle"/"Susie (Of the Islands)", recorded on May 6, 1924 and released as Gennett 5454.
4) "I Need Some Pettin'"/"Royal Garden Blues", recorded on July 20, 1924 and released as Gennett 20062.
5) "Sensation"/"Lazy Daddy", recorded on September 16, 1924 in New York and released as Gennett 5542.
6) "Tia Juana"/"Big Boy", recorded on October 7, 1924 in New York and released as Gennett 5565.
As a member of the Sioux City Six, Bix Beiderbecke recorded:
7) "I'm Glad"/"Flock O' Blues", recorded on October 11, 1924 in New York and released as Gennett 5569.
As Bix Beiderbecke and his Rhythm Jugglers, Bix Beiderbecke recorded:
8) "Toddlin' Blues"/"Davenport Blues", recorded on January 26, 1925 in Richmond, Indiana and released as Gennett 5654.
With the Jean Goldkette Orchestra in 1926-1927, Beiderbecke recorded:
9) "Hush-A-Bye"/"Idolizing", recorded on October 12, 1926 with Frank Bessinger on vocals in New York and released as Victor 20270.
10) "Proud of a Baby Like You" [Take 4]/"I Love You But I Don't Know Why", recorded on January 28, 1927 and released as Victor 20469.
11) "My Pretty Girl"/"Cover Me Up with Sunshine", recorded on February 1, 1927 in New York and released as Victor 20588.
12) "Clementine (From New Orleans)"/"Baltimore" by the Jack Crawford Orchestra, recorded on September 15, 1927 and released as Victor 20994.
With Frankie Trumbauer and His Orchestra and guitarist Eddie Lang, Beiderbecke recorded:
13) "Clarinet Marmalade"/"Singin' the Blues", recorded on February 4, 1927 in New York and released as Okeh 40772.
14) "I'm Coming, Virginia"/"Way Down Yonder in New Orleans", recorded on May 13, 1927 in New York and released as Okeh 40843.
15) "For No Reason at All in C"/"Trumbology", recorded on May 13, 1927 in New York and released as Okeh 40871, Columbia 35667, and Parlophone R 3419.
16) "In a Mist"/"Wringin' an' Twistin'", recorded on September 9, 1927 in New York and released as Okeh 40916 and Vocalion 3150.
17) "Blue River"/"There's a Cradle in Carolina", recorded on September 28, 1927 in New York with Seger Ellis on vocals and released as Okeh 40879.
18) "Baltimore"/"Humpty Dumpty", recorded on September 28, 1927 in New York and released as Okeh 40926.
19) "Borneo"/"My Pet", recorded on April 10, 1928 in New York and released as Okeh 41039.
20) "Futuristic Rhythm"/"Raisin' the Roof", recorded on March 8, 1929 in New York and released as Okeh 41209.
As Bix Beiderbecke and His Gang, he recorded:
21) "At The Jazz Band Ball"/"Jazz Me Blues", recorded on October 5, 1927 in New York and released as Okeh 40923.
22) "Royal Garden Blues"/"Goose Pimples", recorded on October 5, 1927 in New York and released as Okeh 8544.
23) "Sorry"/"Since My Best Gal Turned Me Down", recorded on October 25, 1927 in New York and released as Okeh 41001.
24) "Wa-Da-Da (Everybody's Doin' It Now)"/"Ol' Man River", recorded on July 7, 1928 in Chicago, Illinois and released as Okeh 41088.
25) "Rhythm King (Rey Del Ritmo)"/"Louisiana", recorded on September 21, 1928 in New York and released as Okeh 41173.
With the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, he recorded:
26) "Lonely Melody" [Take 3]/"Mississippi Mud" [Take 2], recorded on January 4, 1928 with Bing Crosby, the Rhythm Boys, and Izzy Friedman in New York and released as Victor 25366.
27) "Ramona"/"Lonely Melody" [Take 1], recorded on January 4, 1928 in New York and released as Victor 21214. Ramona was number one for three weeks on the pop charts.
28) "Ol' Man River"/"Make Believe", recorded on January 11, 1928 with Bing Crosby on vocals and released as Victor 21218. Ol' Man River was number one for one week on the pop charts in 1928.
29) "Together"/"My Heart Stood Still", recorded on January 21, 1928 in New York and released as Victor 35883. Together was number one for two weeks.
30) "Dardanella"/"Avalon", 'Trumpet chorus featuring Bix Beiderbeck', recorded on February 9, 1928 in New York and released as Victor 25238.
31) "Mississippi Mud" [Take 3]/"From Monday On" [Take 6], recorded on February 28, 1928 with vocals by Bing Crosby in New York and released as Victor 21274.
32) "My Angel"/"In My Bouquet of Memories", recorded on April 21, 1928 and released as Victor 21388. "My Angel" was number one for six weeks.
33) "Sweet Sue-Just You"/"I Can't Give You Anything But Love", recorded on September 18, 1928 in New York and released as Columbia 50103-D.
34) "Oh Miss Hannah"/"China Boy", recorded on May 4, 1929 with Bing Crosby on vocals and released as Columbia 1945-D.
As Bix Beiderbecke and His Orchestra, he recorded:
35) "I Don't Mind Walking in the Rain (When I'm Walking in the Rain with You)"/"I'll Be a Friend 'With Pleasure'", recorded on September 8, 1930 in New York and released as Victor 23008.
36) "Deep Down South" by Bix Beiderbecke and His Orchestra, recorded on September 8, 1930 in New York and released as Victor 23018 (backed by "Wasting My Love on You" by Joe Venuti and His Orchestra). Bix Beiderbecke played a cornet solo on "Deep Down South" which also featured Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey, and Charles Pee Wee Russell on clarinet and alto saxophone; Bud Freeman on tenor saxophone; Irving Brodsky on piano; Joe Venuti on violin; Eddie Lang on guitar; Gene Krupa on drums; and, Wes Vaughan on vocals.
With Hoagy Carmichael and His Orchestra, he recorded:
37) "Barnacle Bill, The Sailor"/"Rockin' Chair", recorded on May 21, 1930 in New York with vocals by Carson Robinson and released as Victor V-38139 and Victor 25371.
38) "Georgia on My Mind 99"/"One Night in Havana", recorded on September 15, 1930 in New York with Hoagy Carmichael on vocals and released as Victor 23013. Bix Beiderbecke played a cornet solo on "Georgia On My Mind" with a derby mute. He did not play on "One Night in Havana".
Cover Versions of "In a Mist"
- Red Norvo, on xylophone, 1933.
- Frankie Trumbauer, 1934, including Charlie and Jack Teagarden, Roy Bargy, and Dick McDonough and released as Brunswick 6997.
- Lilian Crawford, 1934, released as Champion 16817.
- Manuel Salsamendi, 1935, recorded on Argentinian Odeon.
- Benny Goodman, 1936 radio broadcast.
- Jess Stacy, recorded from a Benny Goodman Camel Caravan broadcast.
- Bunny Berigan and His Men, 1938
- Larry Clinton. 1938
- Alix Combelle, 1941
- Mel Henke. 1947, as Vitacoustic U-669
- Jimmy McPartland, 1949, with Marian McPartland on piano.
- Harry James, 1949 on Columbia.
- Sal Franzella
- Ralph Sutton, 1950 on Commodore.
- Jess Stacy, 1950 on Columbia.
- The Les Jowett Seven, 1957
- Red Nichols, 1953
- Dill Jones, 1955, the first British recording
- Jimmy McPartland, 1956
- Tom Talbert, 1956
- Sauter-Finegan Orchestra in an arrangement by Eddie Sauter
- Les Jowett, 1957
- Manny Albam, 1958, with Art Farmer, Donald Byrd, Ernie Royal, Bob Brookmeyer, Jerome Richardson, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, Pepper Adams, Milt Hinton, Osie Johnson, and Eddie Costal.
- Lou Busch, 1958
- Michel Legrand, 1958
- Dick Cathcart, 1959
- The Metropolitan Jazz Octet, 1959
- Johnny Guarnieri, 1961
- Lew Davies, 1962
- Ralph Sutton, 1963
- Clark Terry, 1964
- Armand Hug, 1968, released on Dulai.
- Len Bernard, 1968 on Swaggie.
- Ralph Sutton, 1969
- Dill Jones, 1972, on the Chiaroscuro album Davenport Blues.
- Jack Crossan, 1972
- Freddie Hubbard, 1972
- Bucky Pizzarelli, arranged for guitar, 1974
- Geoff Bland, 1974
- Dick Hyman, 1974
- Swingle Singers, 1975
- Trace, 1975
- Keith Nichols, 1975
- Armand Hug, 1976
- Dave Frishberg, 1977
- Kenny Werner, 1978
- Ry Cooder, 1978
- Vintage Jazz Band, 1978
- Eddie Higgins, 1978
- Charlie Byrd, in a guitar duet with Laurindo Almeida, 1980.
- Franca Mazzola, 1981, released on Carosello.
- Bucky Pizzarelli, with son John, Jr., 1984
- Lou Stein, 1984
- Bob Haggart, 1986
- Marco Fumo, 1987
- Saint Louis Stompers, released in 1988 in Argentina.
- Joe LoCascio, 1988
- Morten Gunnar Larsen, 1989
- Protosynthesis Ensemble, 1990
- Cesare Poggi, 1991
- Eddie Daniels with Gary Burton, 1992
- Butch Thompson, 1992
- Eddie Daniels, 1992
- Mike Polad, 1993
- Guy Barker, 1993
- Charlie Byrd and the Washington Guitar Quintet, 1993
- Ralph Sutton, 1993
- Randy Sandke and the New York Allstars, 1993
- Sven-Eric Dahlberg, 1994
- Jess Stacy, 1995
- Roy Eldridge, 1995
- Lincoln Mayorga, 1995
- Eddie Higgins, 1995
- Beau Hunks, 1996
- Robert Smith, 1997
- Joseph Smith, 1998
- Duncan Browne, 1998
- London Symphony Orchestra, 1998
- Charlie Byrd, 1998
- Dick Walter, 1998
- Dean Cotrill, 2000
- Andy Bey, 2001
- Bucky Pizzarelli, 2001
- Mark Atkinson, 2002
- Dick Hyman, 2002
- Geoff Muldaur, 2003
- Vasari Singers, 2003
- Bratislava Serenaders, 2003
- Claude Bolling, 2004
- Philip Aaberg, 2004
- Scott Whitfield Jazz Orchestra East, 2004
- Heinz von Hermann, 2004
- Westwind Brass, 2005
- Patrick Artero, 2006
- Don Baaska, 2007
- Wolfgang Kohler, 2007
- Brent Watkins, 2007
Cover Versions of "Davenport Blues"
- Miff Mole and His Molers, 1927, Okeh 40848
- Red and Miff's Stompers, 1927
- Charleston Chasers under the direction of Red Nichols, 1927, Columbia 909D
- Jimmy Lytell, clarinet, accompanied by Frank Signorelli and Harry Reser, 1928.
- Adrian Rollini and His Orchestra, 1934, Decca 359
- Bunny Berigan and His Orchestra, 1938, Victor 26121B
- Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra, 1938, Victor 26135
- Red Nichols and His Orchestra, 1939
- Gil Evans, 1959, from the album Great Jazz Standards with Johnny Coles on trumpet
- Jack Teagarden
- Bobby Hackett
- Eddie Condon
- Scott Robinson
- Peter O'Brien
- Russ Freeman
- Barbara Sutton Curtis
- Dill Jones, 1972, from the album Davenport Blues
- Kenny Werner, 1977
- Ry Cooder, 1978, from the album Jazz
- Gerry Mulligan, 1992
- Dutch Swing College Band
- Randy Sandke
- Lawson-Haggart Jazz Band
- Dice of Dixie Crew
- Dick Hyman
- Geoff Muldaur
- Patrick Artero, 2006
- Scandinavian Rhythm Boys, 2007
Honors
- 1962, posthumous induction into Down Beat's Jazz Hall of Fame, critics' poll
- Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Society established in Davenport, Iowa; founded annual jazz festival and scholarship.
- 2007, posthumous induction into the Gennett Records Walk of Fame in Richmond, Indiana.
- Bix Beiderbecke's 1927 Okeh recording, Okeh 40772-B, of "Singin' the Blues" with Frankie Trumbauer and His Orchestra with guitarist Eddie Lang, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1977.
- In 1980, "In a Mist", recorded on September 9, 1927 in New York and released as Okeh 40916 in 1927, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
- Bix Beiderbecke was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1979.
- In 1993, Bix Beiderbecke was inducted into the International Academy of Jazz Hall of Fame.
- In 1997, Bix Beiderbecke was inducted into the International Jazz Hall of Fame.
- On September 30, 2004, Bix Beiderbecke was inducted into the inaugural class of Lincoln Center's Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame.
References
- Bix: Man and Legend by Richard M. Sudhalter & Philip R. Evens (Quartet; 1974).
- Bix: The Definitive Biography of a Jazz Legend by Jean Pierre Lion with the assistance of Gabriella Page-Fort, Michael B. Heckman and Norman Field (Continuum, New York / London; 2004).
- "Our Language." Episode 3, Jazz (television miniseries) by Ken Burns. (PBS Home Video/Warner Home Video; 2001).
- Red Hot Jazz.com
External links
- dpl Quad City Memory
- Bix Beiderbecke Resources: A Bixography
- Bix Beiderbecke Resources: A Creative Aural History Thesis - A series of nineteen one-half-hour radio programs from 1971. Includes interviews with Frank Trumbauer, Louis Armstrong, Gene Krupa, Eddie Condon, Bing Crosby and Bix' brother Charles "Burnie" Beiderbecke
- The Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Society, Davenport, Iowa
- "Davenport Blues" - An mp3 of Beiderbecke's first recording under his own name.
- Celebrating Bix - A tribute album created to commemorate the centenary of Beiderbecke's birth by some of the world's finest traditional jazz musicians.
- "Bixology" (an excerpt) by Brendan Wolfe, Jazz.com.
- Twelve Essential Bix Beiderbecke Performances by Brendan Wolfe, Jazz.com.
- Quad City Times Bix 7, Davenport, IA
- Bix Beiderbecke at Find A Grave
