Bix+Beiderbecke

Original Author: Hayleigh Covella, ENG356 FL12
 * Bix Beiderbecke **

Leon “Bix” Beiderbecke, a Davenport, Iowa, native, was a jazz cornetist whose musical career was at its height during the 1920s. As a cornetist, Beiderbecke was self-taught, though he did have some classical training as a pianist. Beiderbecke taught himself to play by ear, often playing along with records until he perfected songs, which led to the development of his unusual playing style (“Leon Bix”). Tragically, Beiderbecke died young and was thus unable to achieve fame among the general public. His unique playing style, however, made him famous among fellow musicians and his influence can still be heard in jazz music today (McPartland).

Beiderbecke was born on March 10, 1901, to Bismark Herman and Agnes Jane Beiderbecke (“Leon Bismark”). His full name was Leon Bismark Beiderbecke, and “Bix” was a childhood nickname used to differentiate between him and his father (Teachout). Beiderbecke was considered a “musical prodigy” early on and was “gifted with both perfect pitch and a phenomenal musical memory” (“Bix Beiderbecke”). His first musical endeavors were on the piano and, despite his clear musical talents, he “refused [to] learn to read sheet music” (“Bix Beiderbecke”). Instead, he began playing around with music and learned to play by ear, which frustrated his music teacher endlessly.

Beiderbecke often played around with music and was “practicing jazz before he knew what it was” by “adding second or third parts [to songs] by ear even when no written parts were furnished” (Hadlock 76). His natural inclination toward jazz was cemented when, as a young boy, he became fascinated with the riverboats full of jazz and blues musicians that often came through Davenport. The riverboats gave Beiderbecke the opportunity to hear Louis Armstrong, who was just a few years older than Beiderbecke, play and inspired him to buy his first cornet, which he learned, of course, to play by ear (“Bix Beiderbecke”).

Beiderbecke’s early life was somewhat challenging. He did not do well in school and, after struggling in high school, was sent to Lake Forest Academy, a private school, in order to receive “more individual attention” (qtd. in Lion 27). On his application, his mother explained that he had “his mind on music more than on any other study” (qtd. in Lion 27). Beiderbecke’s attention to music did not wane once he entered Lake Forest. The academy was close to Chicago, which gave Beiderbecke numerous opportunities to visit the many jazz clubs that were popping up all around the Chicago area. While attending school at Lake Forest, Beiderbecke met other musicians and played in various bands. His newly reinforced fascination with music meant that his grades once again suffered and he continued having the same academic problems he had at home. Beiderbecke was eventually expelled from Lake Forest both due to his low grades and for playing “Rock of Ages—Dixie style” during a school church service when he and his bandmates were supposed to be playing hymns (“Bix Beiderbecke”).

After being expelled, rather than return home to Davenport, Beiderbecke ran away to Chicago (Lion). He “arrived on Chicago's ‘hot’ jazz scene at about the same time as musicians such as King Oliver and Louis Armstrong” (McPartland). Once in Chicago, it did not take long for Beiderbecke to start changing the music scene forever. He played in several bands, both in Chicago and in Davenport. In 1924, he joined The Wolverine Orchestra, which is described as “the first hot jazz band of white and northern Midwesterners” (Stearns). Beiderbecke left the Wolverines later that year and joined the Jean Goldkette Orchestra. From 1927 until 1929, he played in The Whiteman Orchestra, which was very successful and played on national radio and in “every major concert hall in the USA, including Carnegie Hall where Bix played his own composition In [a] Mist” (“Leon Bismark”). Some of Bix’s other compositions include Candlelights, In the Dark, Flashes, and Davenport Blues (“Leon Bismark”).

As part of these bands, Beiderbecke “played a poetic solo, which had no equivalent in the recorded jazz music of that time” (Lion 74). His style was influenced by “the ‘sock’ style of Nick LaRocca of the Original Dixieland Jazzband[,]” but Beiderbecke gave it his own personal flare (Stearns 176). He became well known for his unique playing style. French jazz critic Lucien Malson wrote about his original musical stylings in a December 1956 issue of //Jazz Hot//:

Bix creates something new in jazz: a feeling of relaxation. In his way of swinging, one can undoubtedly see the foundation of a style which – through Trumbauer – Lester Young would adopt ten years later. But that’s not all. Bix’s sound – dull in the sense that gold is dull, round and polished, totally different from Armstrong’s – foreshadows to some extent the aesthetics of ‘cool.’ (qtd. in Lion 139) Even today, Bix’s way of playing is appreciated. In 2003, NPR played a tribute to Beiderbecke accompanied by a description of Bix as “an Iowa boy who in the 1920's created a sound so unique and is still heard in the clubs of New York” (“Tribute”). The fact that more than eighty years later, Bix’s music is still being celebrated is a testimony to his talent. As is his influence on other musicians. Jimmy McPartland, a fellow jazz musician who was a friend of Beiderbecke’s, claims that “almost any jazz musician – besides all the brass men – have one way or another been influenced by Bix” (Shapiro and Hentoff 157). Even African American musicians at the time appreciated Bix’s unique music, and “Louis Armstrong recognized him as a kindred spirit” (“Leon Bix”).

Unfortunately, despite Bix’s clear musical talent, his life was cut short before he could achieve the fame his fellow jazz legends did. Beiderbecke died of pneumonia on August 6, 1931. In his book, //Call Me Lucky,// Bing Crosby, who was Bix’s roommate for a while, describes the lifestyle that made Beiderbecke susceptible to the pneumonia that took his life: “In the end, it was his lack of sleep and his physical exhaustion which broke his health and killed him” (Crosby 89). Aside from the exhausting lifestyle Crosby observed, Beiderbecke’s struggle with alcoholism also took a toll on his health. The jazz scene was well-known for breeding alcoholism, and Beiderbecke was one of its many victims. His pneumonia was “complicated by the results of years of excessive drinking” and Beiderbecke’s weakened body was unable to fight it (“Bix Beiderbecke”).He was buried at Oakdale Cemetery in Davenport (“Leon Bismark”).

Today, Beiderbecke is honored in the Quad City area through the annual Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival, which was first held in 1971. The event is now held in LeClairePark every summer. The Bix 7-Mile Run is a famous part of the jazz festival, and has occurred every year since 1975. The run is now considered one of the top road races in the country (“Bix Beiderbecke”). The race, however, is a somewhat ironic event because, according to Bing Crosby, “[Beiderbecke] never exercised. He didn’t believe in it” (Crosby 88). Other smaller memorials to Beiderbecke can be found throughout Davenport. According to the Davenport Public Library, there is “a bust of Bix and quotes from his fellow musicians” by the bandshell in LeClaire Park, a statue of Bixholding his cornet“at the corner of River Dirve [sic] and 4th Street watching a pair of bronze runners finishing the race that bears his name[,]” and a musical mural that includes Beiderbecke's face “on the City Parking Building on Perry Street” (“Bix Beiderbecke”). Beiderbecke has been honored internationally as well as locally. In 1997, he was inducted into the International Jazz Hall of Fame (“Bix Beiderbecke”). Through these memorials and through the music of the numerous musicians Beiderbecke has influenced, Bix Beiderbecke and his unique musical style lives on.

Crosby, Bing. //Call Me Lucky//. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1953. //Google Books//. Google. Web. 3 Dec. 2012. "Bix Beiderbecke." //Genealogy and Local History//.Davenport Public Library, n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">"Bix Beiderbecke Tribute." //Morning Edition//. National Public Radio. NPR, 10 Mar. 2003. //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Npr.org //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">. National Public Radio, Inc., 10 Mar. 2003. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Hadlock, Richard. //Jazz Masters of The 20s//. NY: Macmillan, 1972. //Google Books//. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Google. Web. 3 Dec. 2012. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">"Leon Bismark (Bix) Beiderbecke." //Bix Biography//. Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Society, <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;"> "Leon Bix." //PBS//. PBS, n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2012. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Lion, Jean Pierre. //Bix: The Definitive Biography of a Jazz Legend//. London: Continuum, <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">2007. //Google Books//. Google. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">McPartland, Marian. "Richard Sudhalter on Cornetist Bix Beiderbecke." //NPR//. National <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Public Radio, Inc., 2 Jan. 2009. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Schuller, Gunther. //The History of Jazz: The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz,// //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">1930-1945 //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">. New York: Oxford UP, 1968. //Google Books//. Google. Web. 3 Dec. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">2012. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Shapiro, Nat, and Nat Hentoff. //Hear Me Talkin' to Ya; the Story of Jazz as Told by the// //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Men Who Made It. //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;"> New York: Dover Publications, 1966. //Google Books//. Google. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Web. 3 Dec. 2012. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Stearns, Marshall Winslow. //The Story of Jazz//. New York: Oxford UP, 1956. //Google// //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Books //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">.Google. Web. 3 Dec. 2012. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Teachout, Terry. "Homage To Bix." //Commentary// 120.2 (2005): 65-68. //Academic Search// //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Premier //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">. Web. 19 Nov. 2012.
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