![]() While the Jean Goldkette Orchestra was potentially a great jazz band, difficulties with their record label (Victor) resulted in most of the Goldkette recordings being commercial dance band performances rather than freewheeling jazz.īix, who was the band‘s solo star, was greatly underutilized on the recordings, usually just leading the ensembles and taking a few short breaks. ![]() In March 1926, Goldkette kept his promise and rehired Beiderbecke. ![]() 1925, a rather loose affair but one that did result in the debut of his composition “ Davenport Blues,” nothing was heard of Bix on records for another year and a half.ĭuring this period he played jobs in the Midwest, learned to read music on a decent level thanks to the tutoring of C-melody saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer, and became an alcoholic. ![]() It looked like his big break, but his inability to read music resulted in him soon being let go with the promise that he would be rehired if he could greatly improve his sight reading abilities. However at that point, Beiderbecke was offered a job with the Jean Goldkette Orchestra. 1924, the Wolverines traveled to New York and made a strong impression. His tone and ideas were quite original and showed the music was having an impact not just on black communities but throughout the world. On the Wolverines recordings, Bix became arguably the first significant white jazz soloist in a music whose pacesetters had been exclusively African-American. His solos became longer and more personal throughout the year and he made classic statements on such numbers as “Riverboat Shuffle,” “Royal Garden Blues,” and “Big Boy,” also taking a fine piano solo on the latter piece. 18, 1924 and one can trace his rapid development in the recordings that the band made during the next eight months. Beiderbecke made his recording debut with the group on Feb. The Wolverines was an up-and-coming jazz band that could hold its own with any other group in the Midwest. 1923, he joined a new band called the Wolverines. He met the young Louis Armstrong on a riverboat and they were very impressed by each other’s playing. He heard and was reportedly influenced by the short-lived Emmett Hardy, a cornetist from New Orleans who unfortunately never recorded. Early Career & The Wolverinesīix freelanced in the Midwest during 1922-23, playing with a variety of pickup bands. Now he was on his own, and not unhappy about it. The late hours resulted in him missing classes and Beiderbecke was expelled from the academy after less than a year. It was only a matter of time before Bix was spending most evenings hanging out at local nightclubs including having opportunities to sit in with the New Orleans Rhythm Kings. But ironically, the academy was located just 35 miles north of Chicago which at the time was the center of jazz. Hoping that he would eventually enter a respectable profession, they enrolled the 18-year old at Lake Forest Military Academy in 1921. Inspired by the playing of Nick La Rocca, Bix purchased a cornet (a smaller, ‘fatter’ version of a trumpet) and taught himself the instrument, developing quickly and becoming determined to work as a jazz musician. When he was 15, he heard a record that one of his older brothers brought home: “ Tiger Rag” by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. While he liked classical music, he never seriously considered becoming a classical pianist. While he had some early piano lessons, Beiderbecke preferred “improving” classical melodies by improvising rather than learning how to read music and sticking to the composer’s notes. When he was four, he began playing songs by ear on his family’s piano and soon he was considered a child prodigy. Leon Beiderbecke, who was born on Main Davenport, Iowa, was called “Bix” (a family nickname that had also been applied to his father and grandfather) from an early age. It was not long after his passing that he became jazz‘s first cult hero, a musician whose every recorded note was treasured and analyzed. The cornetist had a beautiful tone, a cool (as opposed to hot) style, harmonically advanced ideas that still sound modern today, and an up and down life that paralleled the Roaring ’20s. In this article we turn back time to discover the life and music of one of jazz’s earliest icons: cornet-player and American jazz musician Bix Beiderbecke.īix Beiderbecke was considered a jazz legend by many even before his early death.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |