Bix in the Dec 9, 1927 Issue of the Cleveland Press

Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra had an engagement in the Allen Theater, Cleveland, Ohio from December 4 to December 11, 1927. The Cleveland Press had an article about Whiteman and his band in the December 9, 1927 issue. A copy of the page in the paper is reproduced on page 308 of “Bix: The Leon Bix Beiderbecke Story” by Philip R. and Linda K. Evans.

The image is poor and it is hard to read the fine print. Through the courtesy of Elizabeth Beiderbecke Hart, we now have an opportunity to examine carefully the article.

Liz had a high-resolution scan of the article made and transferred to a CD. When Bix sent the page of the Cleveland Press to his parents, he wrote two remarks on the page. On top of the page, Bix wrote:

They got me sketched good looking & Tram hideous, how about the mustache?

Bix was referring to sketches of Bix and Tram in the issue. Bix’s sketch is on the same page as the article. Tram’s sketch is on another page. Neither Liz nor I have a copy of Tram’s sketch. I am trying to get a copy of Tram’s sketch. Bix’s second remark comes next to a paragraph marked by Bix. The paragraph reads:

To our way of thinking, no child should be started in life without being brought up on this kind of music.

Bix wrote:

Get a load of this.

To see the scan of the page, go to http://bixbeiderbecke.com/clevelandpressbix.jpg The image is 1MB in size. Be patient when downloading.

I am grateful to Liz for kindly sending me the CD with the scan.