There are a number of albums, CD’s, one 78 rpm box set, and songs which represent, in one form or another, homages to Bix. Most of these have the name Bix in the title.

The Bix Beiderbecke Legacy

B & W Music BWCD-3, Australia. Recorded by The New Wolverine Orchestra in 1996 and 1997 in the North Sydney Leagues Club. Every tune in this CD had been recorded by Bix in the period 1924-1930. The first tune is Fidgety Feet, the first recording ever made by Bix (with the Wolverine Orchestra), and the last tune is Bessie Couldn’t Help It, Bix’s last recording (with Hoagy Carmichael and His Orchestra). In between, the tunes are from the Wolverine, Jean Goldkette and Paul Whiteman years. The cover of the CD is interesting. The musicians in the famous photograph of the (original) Wolverine Orchestra in the Gennett studios have been replaced by the musicians in the New Wolverine Orchestra!

The Bix Beiderbecke Era

Nagel-Heyer CD 002, Germany. This is a live recording of Randy Sandke’s All Stars concert in Hamburg on May 1, 1993. The other musicians are Dan Barrett, Ken Peplowski, Scott Robinson, Mark Shane, Marty Grosz, Linc Milliman, and Dave Ratajczak. From the liners “Our concert consisted of tunes drawn from all periods of Bix’s career.” I cite the following because they rank among my favorites: Davenport Blues, Singin’ the Blues/ I’m Coming Virginia, Changes, and I’ll Be a Friend With Pleasure. Exactly the same songs have been released again by Nagel-Heyer in a 2002 CD entitled “Randy Sandke Meets Bix Beiderbecke.”

Bix, Fats, Duke

Sea Breeze SB-3013. This is a reissue of an album produced  in 1959 by Tom Talbert. He made the arrangements and conducted a group of 8-10 musicians. Bix’s compositions In A Mist, Candlelights, and In the Dark are included.

Sound of Bix

MD-1074-2. This 1995 CD by the Dukes of Dixieland consists of new arrangements of tunes (such as At the Jazz Band Ball, Singin’ the Blues, Riverboat Shuffle, In the Dark, and Davenport Blues) associated with Bix.

Rhapsody for Bix

Aleph Records 004. This musical work is included in Metamorphosis, Jazz Meets the Symphony by Lalo Schifrin. There are six pieces in this 1997 CD, the last being Rhapsody for Bix. This composition consists of seven parts: Davenport Blues, Royal Garden Blues, Singin’ the Blues, In A Mist, Rhapsody for Bix Theme, At the Jazz Band Ball and Jazz Me Blues. 

Remembering Bix

Carosello CDCLM 1008. This CD contains recordings made in 1981 and 1982 in Milan, Italy by Lino Patruno and His Bix Sound: Lino Patruno (guitar, banjo); Franca Mazzola (piano); Giorgio Alberti (cornet); Carlo Bagnoli (baritone sax); and Marco Ratti and Attilio Zanchi (bass). Allof the tunes, originally issued in two LP albums, are Bix classics, such as I’m Coming Virginia, Riverboat Shuffle, and Jazz Me Blues.

Bix and All That Jazz

LPJSCD – 02. This CD was recorded in Rome, Italy in 1998 by Lino Patruno & the Red Pellini Gang, a group of nine musicians. Many tunes associated with Bix are included – Since My Best Gal Turned Me Down, Sentimental Baby, Borneo and the Bix Piano Suite arranged for Orchestra.

Bix’s Gang Lives

Fat Cat’s Jazz 132. The legendary Bill Rank plays trombone in this 1973 album. The cornet player is the Aussie Tony Newstead, who also recorded the album “Tony Loves Bix“. The remaining musicians are Max Kaminsky (tpt), Tom Gwaltney (clt), Spencer Clark (bass sax), John Eaton (piano), Gene Mayl (bass), Skip Tomlinson (drums), and Johnson “Fat Cat” McRee (vocal). Every tune in this album is associated with Bix: Since My Best Gal Turned Me Down, There Ain’t No Sound Like Dixieland, Louise, Margie, Japanese Sandman, Royal Garden Blues, Riverboat Shuffle, Sugar, Rhythm King, Thou Swell, I’m Coming in Virginia, Somebody Stole My Gal.

It Sounds Like Bix

Broadway 104. This album, produced in 1975, consists of recordings which are either “possible” Bix sides or sides where the influence of Bix on the trumpet or cornet player is of major importance. The orchestras and cornet/trumpet players included in his album are Pat Dollahan and His Orchestra (Just for You and Me, My Suppressed Desire, unknown cornet), The Biltmore Hotel Orchestra (So Long Blues, unknown cornet), Lou Raderman and His Pelham Heath Inn Orchestra (Ol’ Man River, Why Do I Love You?, see discussion in Recordings/Analysis), Al Lynch and His Orchestra (Who Says They Don’t Care, a piano Bix look-alike), Roy Carroll and His Sands Point Orchestra (Little Did I Know), Frankie Trumbauer and His Orchestra (Manhattan Rag, a Bix emulation by Andy Secrest), Carolina Dandies (Come Easy, Go Easy Love, solo by Tom Howell), Andrew Aiona Novelty Four (Keko), The Rollickers (Lonely Little Cinderella, unknown cornet), Ed Blossom and His New Englanders (Give Your Little Baby Lots of Lovin’, a pseudonym for Ben Selvin, unknown cornet), The Knickerbockers (My Man Is on the Make, another pseudonym for Ben Selvin; Leo McConville or Manny Klein with a derby over the bell), Ipana Troubadours (I Can/t Mak Her Happy; perhaps Phil Napoleon), Mason-Dixon Orchestra (What A Day!, Alabammy Snow; the Frankie Trumbauer band with Andy Secrest on cornet).

Correction
Bryan Wright writes on 03/20/2005:
The third track on the first side is identified as “So Long Blues” as played by the Biltmore Hotel Orchestra. The notes to the LP indicate that it comes from a tape dub of a long lost 78 rpm for which no copy has ever turned up. Perhaps they were having so much trouble identifying the recording because all along it never really existed. The recording is actually “Cataract Rag Blues” by Hitch’s Happy Harmonists, recorded for Gennett in Richmond, Indiana January 19, 1925 (Gennett 5633-A).

With a Bow to Bix

Wolverine 3. This album, produced in 1978, shows the influence of Bix on a number of trumpet players – Leroy Morris, Bob Mayhew, Philippe Brun, Norman Payne, Esten Spurrier and Tom Pletcher. Also, a previously unisssued take of Thou Swell (found by Tom Pletcher in Denver in 1977), Bix Beiderbecke and his Gang, April 17, 1928, is included.

Bix Beiderbecke Suite

Commodore FL 30,001. The four solo piano compositions by Bix – In the Dark, Flashes, Candlelights, In A Mist – are played by Ralph Sutton. The flip side has Piano Portraits by Ralph Sutton with Arthur Trappier on drums. I do not have a year for this LP album, but I believe it is from the 50’s.

Bix Hug

Jazzology JCE-83 (Volume 33 of the Jazz Piano Heritage Series). The New Orleans jazz pianist Armand Hug plays twenty two numbers associated with Bix, including the four piano compositions, as well as Davenport Blues, Singin’ the Blues, I’m Comin’ Virginia, I’ll Be a Friend with Pleasure, and others.The liners for this album are written by John Perhonis (see section on Scholarly Dissertations). The interesting aspect of this recording is that Hug plays some of Bix’s cornet solos note for note on the piano.

Bunny Plays Bix

RCA Victor 45 EP EPAT-434. Bunny Berigan and His Men recorded on November 30 and December 1, 1938 the sides in this extended play 45 rpm recording – In the Dark, Candlelights, Davenport Blues and Walkin’ the Dog.

Hooray for Bix

Riverside RLP 12-268. This album is dedicated to Bix Beiderbecke by Marty Grosz and His Honoris Causa Jazz Band. The cornet player is Carl Halen. This album, made in 1958, includes Changes, Sorry, Clementine, and For No Reason At All in C, among others.

The Legend of Bix.

Argo LP 659 The Metropolitan Jazz Octet recorded this album on August 11 and 12, 1959. Side 1 contains a “fantasy on the coming of age of a young man who was deeply involved in the beginning of a very new art form”. It is based, primarily, on the music of the men who were supposed to have influenced Bix, chronologically: Nick LaRocca, childhood; King Oliver and Louis Armstrong, adolescence; Paul Mares, youth; Emmett Hardy, the man who could have been. Side 2 contains Bix’s four piano compositions orchestrated for the Octet and Davenport Blues.

A Portrait of Bix

Jazzology J-149. This album, produced in 1986,  has Bob Haggart as leader and playing string bass and Tom Pletcher playing the cornet. The liners state that the “band is unique in that all the members came under the influence of Bix Beiderbecke early in the formative years of their musical careers.” Some of the sides included are In A Mist, Dardanella, Clementine, Davenport Blues, and Somebody Stole My Gal.

Bix MCMLIX

Warner Brothers W 1275. The album contains a number of songs identified with Bix played by Dick Cathcart on trumpet  with orchestral arrangements and direction by Warren Barker. Some of the songs, which were recorded in December of 1959, are Jazz Me Blues, In A Mist, At the Jazz Band Ball, Singin’ the Blues and I’m Coming Virginia. 

Shades of Bix

Brunswick BL 58049. The songs in this 10-inch LP album were recorded by Jimmy McPartland and His Jazz Band between March and May 1953. The sides in this record are Singin’ the Blues, Clarinet Marmalade, Davenport Blues, Louisiana, I’m Coming Virginia, Riverboat Shuffle, Ostrich Walk, and Since My Best Gal Turned Me Down.

Also released as EB-72001, a set of two extended play 45rpm records.

Shades of Bix

MCA 2-4110. There are two records in this album. Three sides are by Jimmy McPartland, the fourth is by Bobby Hackett. All the tunes in the Brunswick “Shades of Bix” are included here. In addition, there are some rare recordings from 1936 by Jimmy McPartland’ Squirrels and also a version of In A Mist by Mary McPartland. The Bobbby Hackett side contains standard tunes such as But Not For Me, With A Song in My Heart, More Than You Know, and others.

Bixieland

Columbia CL 719. The cover of the album states Eddie Condon and his All-Stars jam on a few of Bix Beiderbecke’s favorites. Some of the sides, recorded in April 1955, are At the Jazz Band Ball, I’ll Be A Friend With Pleasure, Singin’ the Blues, From Monday On, I’m Coming Virginia, and Jazz Me Blues. Wild Bill Davison is on cornet on about half the sides and Pete Pesci (actually, Bobby Hackett who was under contract to Capitol and thus used the pseudonym Pesci, an employee of Condon’s club) is on trumpet on the remaining sides.

Bucky Pizzarelli Playing Beiderbecke

Monmouth Evergreen MES/7066. Bucky Pizzarelli and his Guitar Quintet play the four piano compositions by Bix, and his Davenport Blues, in arrangements by Bill Challis. In addition, Bucky Pizzarelli and his daughter Mary play eight pieces by Kress and McDonough. The album was produced by Bill Challis and the sides were recorded between February and March 1974.

Bessie, Bix, Billie, and more Jazz Greats

A Columbia Musical Treasury D 886. The other jazz greats are McKenzie-Condon Chicagoans, Wally Rose, Harry James, and Jimmie Lunceford. Bix is represented by Margie.

Salute to Bix

This album (Riff (DU)659031?) was recorded by Jimmy McPartland in Leiden in 1975. It contains several of Bix’s standard tunes such as Singin’ the Blues, I’m Coming Virginia, Ostrich Walk, and more. Two piano solos by Ralph Sutton are also included.

Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Band

Audex AX-103. Following their phenomenal success in Davenport on August 6, 1971, Bill Donahoe, the driving force behind the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Band, and his cohorts – Joe Aswhorth (C-melody sax), Billy Barnes (cornet), Jay Duke (drums) John Gill (banjo), John Schober (clarinet), Skip Strong (trombone), Tex Wyndham (piano) – recorded this album on October 19 and 20, 1973. The LP contains Bix’s classic tunes Davenport Blues, Royal Garden Blues, Fidgety Feet, Riverboat Shuffle, Louisiana, From Monday On, and I’ll Be A Friend “With Pleasure”. In addition the group recorded (in just one take) an original composition dedicated to Bix, Blues for Bix.

Copenhagen

Jazzology J-99. This album, recorded by The Sons of Bix (Tom Pletcher, cornet; Don Ingle, Valve Trombone; John Harker, Clarinet; Russ Whitman, Bass Saxophone; Dave Miller, Guitar and Banjo; Don Gibson, Piano; Wayne Jones, Drums) in 1983 has many tunes associated with Bix: Copenhagen, Big Boy, Clarinet Marmalade, From Monday On, and others.

Princeton Bix Festival 1979

Mis-10. The Sons of Bix Band. Squirrel Ashcraft (piano), Bill Priestley (guitar), Kack Howe (tenor sax), Doug MacNamee (guitar), Spencer Clark (bass sax), Bud Wilson (trombone), Bob Haggart (string bass), Doug James (drums), Tom Pletcher (cornet), Mike Katz (piano). The cover of the album notes that “This recording was produced without profit. Copies are not for financial gain and are distributed only to those who made the music and their friends”. This recording was made at the Bix Festival held in Princeton on the occasion of 50th reunion of the class of 1929, that included Ashcraft and Priestley. According to the liners for the album, “The name “Sons of Bix” was first applied to the members of the jazz group that gathered at at Squirrel’s home in the 1930’s on the theory that it aptly described musicians who emulated the Condon-Chicago style and were so largely influenced by Bix and his records. It now certainly applies to any band lucky enough to include Tom Pletcher (in himself a strong case for reincarnation). He serves, so far, as the band’s only tie to the new Chicago-based “Sons of Bix” who spread the gospel throughout Europe last Spring and recorded a fine album (Ostrich Walk”) for the Jazzology label.” The tunes included in this album are : At the Jazz Band Ball, At Sundown, Wolverine Blues, Friend with Pleasure, Nobody’s Sweetheart, Swing that Music, Jada, Farewell Blues, Melancholy Baby, and Struttin with Some Barbecue. I am grateful to James (Hugh) Donahoe for the gift of this album.

Tony Loves Bix

Fat Cats Jazz 127.This album was recorded in 1973, just before the Australian cornetist Tony Newstead left Washington, D. C. after having spent a number of years there. Some of the musicians in the band are Spiegle Willcox (who play along side Bix with the Jean Goldkette Orchestra) and Bill Allred (a native of the Moline-Davenport area). The sides in this album are all classic Bix recordings such as Singin’ the Blues, I’ll Be a Friend “With Pleasure”, Sweet Sue, and Jazz Me Blues.

Bix ‘n All That Jazz

Truetone Records LP 520337. This album was recorded by Chuck Slate and His Traditional Jazzz Band in the 1970’s. Among the musicians are Warren Vache on sting bass and Pee Wee Irwin on trumpet. The tunes associated with Bix are “At he Jazz Band Ball” and “Davenport Blues”.

Dill Jones Plays Bix and Others

Chiaroscuro CR 112. Dill Jones is a jazz pianist from South Wales. As a ten-year old child in the mid thirties he listened to the British bands of Ambrose and Jack Hylton and to American Jazz recordings. I quote from the liners written by Herb Sanford, the author of “Tommy and Jimmy: The Dorsey Years”: Dill’s interest in Bix and his music has been with him a long time. I first met Dill in the early sixties, when he was a pianist in a band Yank Lawson organized for an engagement at the Grandview Inn in Columbus, Ohio. The band did a show in which each member was featured in turn. For his spot, Dill played “In A Mist”. A few years later, when Dill was with the Dukes of Dixieland on a midwest tour, he found the opportunity to visit Davenport and look around the town where Bix grew up.” This album from 1972 contains Bix’s four piano compositions and a piano solo of Davenport Blues. In addition there are piano solo renditions of Bix’s classic pieces “From Monday On” and “Big Boy”.

A 78 RPM Album

Disc 632. This album contains four records by the Pee Wee Russell Jazz Ensemble. One of the records in the set has Since My Best Gal Turned Me Down. On therecord label we see the inscription “A Tribute to Bix”.

Dear Bix

This is a song written (music and lyrics) by Dave Frishberg as a tribute to Bix. It first appeared in a Concord album in 1977. The album was reissued as a CD, Concord Jazz CCD-4037. The score for the song is included in the booklet I’m Hip and Other Songs Beyond Category, by Dave Frishberg, Ekay Music Inc. Katonah, NY 1985. There are 22 scores for voice and piano, chord symbols, and a biography of the composer. The song Dear Bix was also recorded by Meredith D’Ambrosio in the CD Shiah SR-109 in 1981 and by Magni Wentzel in the CD GMCD 57 in 1988.

Bix

A composition by Bob Wilber, his personal homage to Bix and dedicated to Pupi Avati. The tune Bix, playedby Andy Stein and Keith Nichols, is included in the soundtrack of the film Bix: An Interpretation of a Legend, and in the Italian album Bix Lives played as a piano solo by Keith Nichols.

Bix’s Place

A composition by Randy Sandke. Played by Rande Sandke (trumpet), Michael Brecker (tenor sax), Joel Helleny (trombone), Jim McNeely (piano), John Goldsby (bass), and Kenny Washington (drums). One of several compositions by Rande Sandke in the 1985 LP album ST-264 “New York Stories“.

Ode to Bix

A collection of piano music written in the style of Bix Beiderbecke piano music by Earl A. Rohlf. Can be seen in the Davenport Public Library. Lino Patruno gave me information about the titles of the tunes: Ode to Bix, Bix Bash, Bix Lives, and Rhapsody for Bix.

Per Bix: Tributo to Bix

A composition by Franca Mazzola,  music and lyrics (in Italian). This song is included in Franca Mazzola’s CD Direarte FO 509. She plays the piano and sings the song. The CD also includes her piano solo of Bix’s “In the Dark”.

Vintage Bixieland

A composition by Swedish trumpet player Rolf Sundby. The song was recorded in 1990 by the Vintage Jazz Big Band, a band from Goteburg, Sweden that specializes in big band jazz of the 1920s and early 1930s. Sundby is the main soloist in the recording and plays flugelhorn to achieve a more Bix-like tone). There is also a Rollini style bass sax solo played by Bert Slättung. The tune is part of a LP album called “Vintage Jazz” (Imogena IGLP 011). A CD of the Vintage Jazz Big Band has also been released by Imogena (IGCD 011)Madacy Records. In the description of the CD, Rolf Sundby writes, “Different trumpet styles are present, e.g. Louis Armstrong in Sugarfoot Stomp and That Rhythm Man, Cootie Williams / Ray Nance in the Ellingtonian jungle classic The Mooche  and Bix Beiderbecke in Vintage Bixieland which is an homage from the band to Bix. The bass saxophone is used here in true Rollini-style.” I am indebted to  Fredrik Tersmeden for providing this information.

Bix Land

A composition by Dominic Cravic and Philippe Paringaux. The song was recorded by “Les Primitifs du Futur” in the Fremeaux et Associes 1994 CD “Trop de routes, trop de trains et autres histoires d’amours.” To listen to a one-minute clip of the song, go to http://www.jazzvalley.com/site/listen/extract_id=7974 A rough translation of  “Les Primitifs du Futur” is “The Primitives of the Future”. They got started in 1986 when Robert Crumb (cartoonist and blues aficionado) spent several months in Paris. Crumb got together with Dominique Cravic (guitar player and singer) in one of the blues dive in Montparnasse. They played blues, jazz and java (French apache waltz).  The music style is a blend of the old and the new – the traditional French music played in a new manner. Before Crumb left France, the group recorded a 10-inch LP, “Cocktail d’Amour”. It consisted of blues and musette (traditional French popular music where the accordion is the principal instrument). Their second record is “Trop de routes, trop de trains et autres histoires d’amours” (Too many roads, too many trains and other love stories). In addition to Bix Land, the CD contains “Sous les Toits de Paris” (Under the Roofs of Paris, 1930) from the Rene Clair film of the same name (incidentally, one of my all-time favorite films with a great soundtrack). I am grateful to Eric Min-Tung for informing me of the existence of the song and related information.

Bix Memorial

Carosello CLE 2105. This album was recorded by Lino Patruno and His Bix Sound in 1981. The contents are included in the CD Remembering Bix (see above). All tunes are associated with Bix.

Bix Lives

Musica Jazz 2 MJP 1085. This album, released in 1991,  contains eleven tunes recorded by Bix between 1924 and 1930. In addition it contains Shimmeshawabble recorded by the New Orleans Rhythm Kings,  Stardust, recorded by Hoagy Carmichael in 1933, Davenport Blues and Singin’ the Blues, recorded in 1975 by Jimmy McPartland and Dick Cary with Lino Patruno, and Bix, a tune by Bob Wilber composed for the film Bix: An Interpretation of a Legend and recorded by pianist Keith Nichols in 1990. There is an interesting connection between this album and the soundtrack of the film: all the tunes in the album were included in the film.

Bix Lives

These are a series of albums recorded live at the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Festivals during the 1970’s.

Piano Deco, Volume 1

Premier/Polecat CD-101. Mike Polad Plays American Music from the 1920’s: Eastwood Lane, Bix Beiderbecke, Rube Bloom. Eastwood Lane’s compositions are said to be highly influential in Bix’s style of composing and sevral are included in this CD: Adirondack Sketches, Five American Dances, etc. All of Bix’s compositions are presented: In A Mist, Candlelights, Flashes, In the Dark, Davenport Blues.

Billy Plays Bix

Epic LA 16026. The subtitle of this album, recorded in 1959, is “the Billy Butterfield Jazz Band and the Songs that Bix Played.” Some of the songs included are Sorry, Goose Pimples, I’ll Be a Friend “With Pleasure” and Tia Juana.

Bixin’the Blues

Blue Jazz BJ016CD. The following information was provided by Lino Patruno. In the 1950’s, a group of young college students from Rome got together and formed a jazz band called the “Junior Dixieland Gang.” The band followed the Bix sound and recorded in Milan a dozen 78 rpm records for the Italian Pathe label. The recordings, mostly Bix’s classics such as Mississippi Mud, Margie, Royal Garden Blues, Jazz Me Blues, Singin’ the Blues, etc., have now been reissued on CD. The arrangers were Sandro Brugnolini (clarinet) and Francesco Forti (baritone and alto sax). Included among the sides is Brugnolini’s original composition Bixin’ the Blues.

Salute to Bix! A Tribute to Bix Beiderbecke

HMV DLP 1106. The album contains ten sides with Bix, eight recorded with Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra and two recorded with Hoagy Carmichael and His Orchestra. The tracks are Louisiana, You Took Advantage of Me, Mississipppi Mud, Changes, Mary, Georgia, San, From Monday On, There Ain’t No sweet Man That’s Worth The Salt of My tears, and Bessie Couldn’t Help It. The liners provide quotes form musicians who knew Bix. Wingy Manone. “After Bix the others were just apes.” Louis Armstrong. “His tone, phrasing and sense of harmony were the most marvellous things that one would want to hear.” Jimmy McPartland. “I’ve heard many great trumpeters since those days, but I haven’t heard anyone like Bix. Somehow or other his style, the cleanliness and feeling was lovely. Let’s call him the master and leave it at that.”

I am grateful to David Weiner for kindly sending me scans of the front and back of the LP album.

The Re-discovered Louis and Bix

Nagel-Heyer CD 058. On the cover of the CD is written: “George Avakian Presents The Re-discovered Louis and Bix, Lost Musical Treasures of Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbecke, Randy Sandke and the New York Allstars featuring Kenny Davern, Wycliffe Gordon, Dick Hyman, Ken Peplowski and others.” The scan of the cover, shown on the right,  displays Bix’s cornet (courtesy of Robert and Eva Christiansen) and Louis’ trumpet (courtesy of Michael Cogswell and the Louis Armstrong Archives).  I will restrict the description to the Bix Beiderbecke portion of the CD. The Bix sides (which were first introduced on June 27, 1997, at The JVC Jazz Festival) were recorded on June 24, 1999 and include: No One Knows What It’s All About(recorded for Gennett on 01/26/25 by Bix and His Rhythm Jugglers; master destroyed); Play It Red (recorded for Victor on 04/23/27 by Jean Goldkette and His Orchestra; master destroyed); Lily (recorded for Victor 04/16/27 by Jean Goldkette and His Orchestra; master destroyed); Did You Mean It? (recorded for OKeh, 10/26/27 by Frank Trumbauer and His Orchestra; master destroyed); Betcha I Getcha (unrecorded; on 12/13/73 Joe Venuti sat down at the piano and played for Dick Hyman what he claimed was an unpublished composition by Bix Beiderbecke); Cloudy (unrecorded; this was played by Charlie Davies in the documentary Bix: Ain’t None of Them Play Like Him Yet; Davis claims that he heard Bix play this piece and recorded it in his mind); Stampede (recorded for Victor on 02/01/27 by Jean Goldkette and His orchestra; master destroyed). These songs were arranged and conducted by Randy Sandke. The musicians, all highly competent and talented professionals, contribute interesting interpretations of the songs, both in ensemble work as well as in solo parts. I highlight  Randy Sandke’s excellent job on cornet, and Dick Hyman’s outstanding piano work. In my opinion, the two most interesting and fascinating pieces related to Bix in this CD are Betcha I Getcha and Cloudy. Randy Sandke’s arrangements provide a haunting and nostalgic Bixian feeling.

The Blue Rhythm Kings

This recording was made in a studio in Eltham, London in 1985 and was issued as a cassette. The band was called The Blue Rhythm Kings and that was also the title of the cassette. The recording is a tribute to Bix, Red Nichols and the California Ramblers. The personnel was as follows:

• Malcolm Walton (leader, cornet, vocals, piano)
• Bill Boston (clarinet, alto, c-melody and bass saxes)
• Chris Hunt (trombone)
• Colin Martin (piano)
• Peter Warren (banjo, guitar)
• Ron Goulding (tuba)
• Colin Large (drums, vocal)

The titles were:

• Crazy Quilt
• Singin’ the Blues
• I Wonder What’s Become Of Joe
• Make My Cot Where The Cot Cot Cotton Grows
• There’ll Come A Time
• Halfway to Heaven
• Futuristic Rhythm
• Didn’t I Tell You?
• Wringin’and Twistin’
• I Left My Sugar Standing In The Rain
• Clarinet Marmalade
• You Took Advantage Of Me
• Don’t Keep Me In The Dark Bright Eyes

I am grateful to Malcolm Walton for providing the information about this recording

In Memory Of Bix

Sea Breeze 2079. This 1996 CD is entitled “Tom Kubis Big Band Plays Steve Allen,  “FAST CARS & FASCINATING WOMEN”. The song was composed by Steve Allen and arranged by Tom Kubis. According to the publishers for the sheet music, Walrus Music, this is a medium to advanced level big band chart. “As you all know, Steve Allen is a fan & writer of all musical styles. As a tribute to the great trumpeter Bix Biederbecke (sic), Steve penned this great and melodic tune. This 4th trpt feature plays a “Bix-like” melody line with a current big band background. This arr is fastly becoming a standard for trpt repertoire. Trpt to high D. med-diff.”

Memorial to Bix Beiderbecke

This is V Disc No. 774. It was produced by the Music Branch, Special Services Division, War Department. It is a 12-inch, 78 rpm recording. Side A has “A Handful of Stars” by Ray Noble and his Orchestra with a trumpet chorus by Lt. Harry Johnson and “Singin’ the Blues” by Buddy Hackett and his orchestra. Side B has “Dancing on the Ceiling” by Glen Gray and his Orchestra with Red Nichols on trumpet. On the label is written “Memorial “SS” Release (As suggested by Dr. John Dale Owen)”.

Thinking of Bix

A piano composition by Dick Hyman dating from 1982. Played by Dick Hyman in the 1998 CD RR-84CD “Dick Hyman in Recital”. According to the liners by Floyd Levin ” “Thinking of Bix” is Dick Hyman’s tribute to another of his early mentors, the cornetist/composer/pianist Bix Beiderbecke. Although the piece is original, Hyman’s life-long familiarity with the Beiderbecke recordings suggest (sic) to this listener a Bill Rank arrangement, a bit of Adrian Rollini’s bass saxophone, and several cornet phrases out of the Bix canon – in particular, the coda of his classic, “I’m Comin’ Virginia.””

Bix Fix

A composition by jazz guitarist Joe Puma. Played as a duet by Joe Puma (guitar) and Warren Vache (cornet). One of the cuts in the 1994 Muse CD 5524 “Warren Vache, Horn of Plenty”. According to the liners, “A tribute to Bix Beiderbecke, “Bix Fix” is tender and melodic.” According to Warren, “I supposed he (Joe Puma) named it after Bix because the melody is vaguely like one of Bix’s choruses. Joe has a penchant for rhyme and alliteration, hence Bix Fix.”
I am grateful to Warren Vache for a gift of the CD and for his generosity in answering my questions.

Blues for Bix

One of the examples of  improvisation in the album “Etudes” by guitarist Jimmy Wyble. Other etudes in this LP  (Jazz Chronicle Records JCS 781) are dedicated to Red Norvo, Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller. The sheet music for all the etudes are available in the booklet “The Art Of Two-Line Improvisation” by Jimmy Wyble, edited and transcribed by Rich Carter, Flat Five Publishing, Studio City, California, 1979. According to the author, “This work is a collection of studies that were born out of a respect and mastery of counterpoint, composition and improvisation.”

Bix’s Bugle

A tune written by Ray Linn and performed by Ray Linn and his Chicago Stompers in the album “Ray Linn’s Chicago Jazz”, Discovery Records, 1978. Among the Stompers we find Eddie Miller (tenor sax; he played with Bob Crosby in the 1930’s) and Dave Frishberg (piano; composer of another song about Bix – Dear Bix).
I am grateful to Joe Giordano for his gift of copies of the album cover and of the recording.

Bix’ idé 

(From Swedish, Bix’s Idea) A tune composed by Gösta Törner and recorded on August 12, 1941 by a Swedish jazz orchestra under the leadership of bass player Thore Jederby  for the Swedish Scala label. The discographical information follows. Thore Jederbys orkester:

• Gösta Törner tp
• John Björling cl as
• Carl-Henrik Norin ts
• Thore Swanerud p
• Sven Stiberg
• Folke Eriksberg g
• Thore Jederby b
• Gösta Hedén dr.

Aug 12, 1941. 820 BIX’ IDÉ (Gösta Törner) Scala 935

Several of these musicians had been part of the Swedish jazz scene already in the 1920s. As for Gösta Törner, he recorded “Sweet Sue” with the orchestra of Sune Lundwal in 1935 and thereby based his solo firmly on Bix’ solo of the same tune by the Whiteman orchestra. I am grateful to Fredrik Tersmeden for providing this information in a message dated  June 25, 2002.

The text given above is an almost verbatim transcription of the message. Fredrik comments at the end that:

Although the tune contains some allusions to “Singin’ The Blues” I must say that it does not sound too Bixian in my opinion. At the same session the band also recorded a tune called “Busters idé”, probably a tribute to Buster Bailey.

In Memory of Bix

A tune honoring Bix’s life and achievements in the 2001 CD “Good Time Jazz”, the first recording of the Bix Beiderbecke Youth Jazz Band. Two other Bix-realted tunes in the CD are Bix’s immortal composition “Davenport Blues” andHoagy Carmicahel’s “Georgia on My Mind.” The CD is available from the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Society.

A Vision of the Music of Bix Beiderbecke. Private Astronomy

This an Edge Music CD # B000907-02 by Geoff Muldaur’s Futuristic Ensemble, produced by Dick Connette and released  in September 2003 by Deutsche Grammophon. As the liners indicate, the title of the CD is inspired by a sentence in Ralph Berton’s book “Remembering Bix.” “Bix was as usual gazing off into his private astronomy.” All the tracks but one were composed and/or recorded by Bix. Bix’s four piano compositions -In A Mist, Flashes, Candlelights, In The Dark- and Davenport Blues, Bix’s only composition for a jazz band, are included in the CD. In addition to these, we have “Take Your Tomorrow,” “Singin’ the Blues,” “Futuristic Rhythm,” “Waiting at the End of the Road. The single track neither recorded nor composed by Bix is “Clouds.”

Geoff Muldaur is a Bix fan from way back. As a youngster [he is now  60 years old], he listened to his brother’s jazz collection and tells us that “Of all the musicians I listened to back then, none moved me more profoundly than Bix Beiderbecke.” At the end of the liners, Muldaur writes, “This album is meant to convey the spirit of Bix and his time.”
Although the interpretations are not done, with some exceptions, in the style of the 1920s, I find that Muldaur is quite accurate when he tells us that he is trying to convey the “spirit of Bix.” In particular, the “chamber arrangements” of Bix’s piano compositions bring out their bittersweet sensibility and haunting feeling, two of Bix’s musical characteristics. The instruments used in three of the four compositions are violin, cornet, trombone, clarinet, alto sax and bass clarinet. In the fourth composition -In A Mist- the bass clarinet is replaced by baritone sax and tuba. The combination of instruments and the way the music is arranged makes Bix’s compositions sound even more impressionistic than when played on a piano. The other tunes are played in a style that reminds me a bit of the smooth jazz sound of the 60s, in particular the vocals.
I was surprised to see that  Randy Sandke, Bix scholar and friend of the Bixography, plays trumpet in four of the tracks -There Ain’t No Sweet Man That’s Worth the Salt of My Tears, Futuristic Rhythm (solo transcribed by Peter Ecklund), Singin’ the Blues, and Bless You Sister. As usual, he brings his high technical proficiency and deep understanding of Bix’s music to make these tracks significant.

Performing for this album are some of New York’s finest instrumentalists, including Mark Gould, principal trumpet with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and saxophonist Ted Nash, a veteran of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Kennedy Center Jazz Orchestra, and a frequent collaborator with the likes of Wynton Marsalis and Mel Lewis. In addition to the chamber ensemble, other top players contributing to the big band treatments of the songs on this album include pianist Butch Thompson and drummer Arnie Kinsella of A Prairie Home Companion’s “Shoe Band,” and ex-Ellington trombonist Art Baron. Besides creating the arrangements, Muldaur sings solo on several tracks, and joins with Loudon Wainwright and Greg Prestopino for some Rhythm Boys-style tunes. Martha Wainwright sings “Singin’ The Blues” and “There Ain’t No Sweet Man (That’s Worth The Salt Of My Tears).

Clearly, the album represents a labor of love: it has been twenty years from the time the idea was first conceived by Geoff Muldaur. But it has been time well spent. I am grateful to Dick Connette and Steve Weiss for correspondence and for their generosity. .

Thank You, Bix

This is the title of a new CD, Royal Oak Records nr. 5001, produced by Bixophile, record collector and producer, and Bixography forum contributor Hans Eekhoff. The subtitle of the CD reads

A tribute to the legendary Bix Beiderbecke by Dutch bands and musicians.

The introductory paragraph in the liners reads:

The album was simply made to show the appreciation and gratitude of a group of musicians from The Netherlands to Bix Beiderbecke, that most creative and inspiring of jazz musicians in America in the 1920s.
We compiled a program of tunes that are closely connected with Bix, including his own compositions; four originally written for piano and two instrumental compositions.
Most of these were recorded specially this year when we celebrate Bix’s 100th birthday but some were made earlier and desperately needed (re)issuing!
 
The following are the tracks in the CD:

1. Davenport Blues. The Grand Avenue Irregulars. Hans Eekhoff, tumpet; Hans Kip, trombone; Ronald Jansen Heitjmajer, clarinet; Peter Klop, piano; Louis Debij, drums. Recorded 2003.
2. Proud of A Baby like You. De Joep Peeters Bixband. Marc van de Brule, trumpet; Ad Houtepen, cornet; Jack Lombarts, trombone; Dick Sleeman, trombone; Robert Veen, alto sax; Ronald Jansen Heitjmajer, clarinet; Joep Peeters, piano; Tom Stuip, banjo; Niels Tausk, bas; Louis Debij, drums; David Lukacs, tenor sax; Guido Nielsen, violin; Chris Peeters, San Peeters and Wies Peeters, vocal. Recorded 2003.
3. For No Reason At All In C. Ron, Guido, Ad and Ton. Ronald Jansen Heitjmajer, C melody sax; Ton van Bergejik, guitar; Guido Nielsen, piano; Ate Houtepen, cornet. Recorded 2003.
4. Flashes. Floortje Smehuijzen, piano solo. Recorded 2003.
5. There’s A Cradle In Caroline. The Bix Beiderbecke Fabulous Orchestra. Ate Houtepen, cornet, vocal; Victor Bronsgeest, trombone; Ronald Jansen Heitjmajer, alto sax, clarinet; Ton van Bergejik, guitar, banjo; Floortje Smehuizen, alto sax; Robert Veen bass sax; Guido Nielsen, piano; Louis Debij, drums. Recorded 2003.
6. In A Mist. The Beau Hunks Saxophone Soctette. Ronald Jansen Heitjmajer, clarinet, saxes, arranger; Frank Timpe, clarinet, saxes; Robet Veen, clarinet, saxes, arranger; Sebastian Ohm, clarinet, saxes; Allard Buwalda, clarinet, saxes; Leo van Oostrom, clarinet, saxes; Hans Bosch, clarinet, saxes; David Kweksilber, clarinet, saxes; Michiel van Dijk, clarinet, saxes. Recorded 1998.
7. There Ain’t No Land Like Dixieland Today. The Bix Beiderbecke Fabulous Orchestra. Same as track 5. Recorded 2003.
8. At The Jazz Band Ball. The Grand Avenue Irregulars. Frank Wouters, cornet; Hans Kip, trombone; Cees van der Zaal, clarinet; Hans Eekhoff, piano; Tom Rakers, bass sax; Ron Meijboom, drums. Recorded 1977.
9. Lila. Andor’s Jazzband. Ad Houtepen, cornet, vocal; Peter Ivan, cornet; Victor Bronsgeest, trombone, vocal; Paul Habraken, sousaphone; Ronald Jansen Heitjmajer, clarinet, alto sax; Peter den Boer, drums; Hans Bosch, clarinet, tenor sax. Recorded 1997.
10. Candlelights. The Beau Hunks Saxophone Soctette. Same as track 6. Recorded 1998.
11. My Pet. Andor’s Jazzband. Same as track 9. Recorded 1997.
12. Rhythm King. The Bixieland Boys. Ad Houtepen, cornet; Dick Sleeman, trombone; Ronald Jansen Heitjmajer, clarinet; Guido Nielsen, piano; Tom Stuip, banjo; Robert Veen, bass sax. Recorded 2003.
13. In The Dark. The Beau Hunks Saxophone Soctette. Same as track 6. Recorded 2002.
14. I’ll Be A Friend With Pleasure. The Bix Beiderbecke Fabulous Orchestra. Same as track 5. Recorded 2003.
15. Dear Bix. Chris Peeters (vocal) and Joep Peeters (piano).

The last track is a song written by David Frishberg in honor of Bix.
It is quite remarkable that a small country like The Netherlands has such an active and talented group of musicians, devoted Bixophiles producing what is obviously a labor of love. The whole spirit of Bix’s music permeates the performances. Good for them!

I am grateful to Hans for a gift of the CD.

If Bix Played Gerswhin

“If Bix Played Gershwin”  was the title of a concert in the “Jazz in July” series of 1996. Dick Hyman, the director of the series at the 92nd Street Y for the last 20 years, conceived the idea and was the driving force behind the concert. Dick got together with Tom Pletcher who is the  cornetist who comes the closest in recreating the sound and music of Bix. A detailed description of the show is given here in the website.

A CD with almost the same title, “Dick Hyman and Tom Pletcher: If Bix Played Gershwin” by Tom Pletcher-Dick Hyman and Their Gang has just been released by Arbors Records, ARCD 19283.

It is a magnificent CD. Two musical geniuses -Bix and Gershwin- are brought together through the interpretation of Gerswhin’s tunes in Bixian style by a group of highly talented musicians.

We start with Dick Hyman, arranger of all the tracks in the CD, superb pianist, and Bix fan extraordinaire. In the liners for the CD, Dick writes, “When I was about 11 years old, my big brother, Arthur, brought home from college two Brunswick records: Singin’ the Blues/I’m Coming Virginia and Somebody Stole My Gal/Rhythm King. With these silver and black reissue labels I began what is now a lifetime’s appreciation of the art of cornetist/pianist/composer Bix Beiderbecke. Later, another interest developed, although not quite so obsessively, in the music of George Gershwin.”

The second musician to be mentioned is, of course, Tom Pletcher. He writes in the liners, “Fifty years ago, I happened upon Bix on one of my father’s worn out 78 Okeh records. The sound of his horn changed my life on that day.” Tom has played Bix’s music for the last 50 years, most recently at the Bix 100 cruise. He is a highly talented cornetist, but that is not all. He understands and has a profound feeling for Bix’s music.

The remaining musicians on this CD are also gifted and brilliant, Vince Giordano (bass saxophone), Dan Levinson (clarinet, C-melody sax), David Sager (trombone), Bob Leary (guitar, banjo) and Ed Metz, Jr. (drums).

The CD was produced by Dick Hyman. He was also arranger and director. Most tracks were recorded on January 2 and 3, 2003 except for a couple which were recorded on March 27, 2003. Of course, 2003 was the year of Bix’s centennial. It is unfortunate that this CD was not released last year, to add to the celebration of Bix’s 100th birthday.

Bix recorded two Gerswhin compositions: Concerto in F and The Man I Love, both with Paul Whiteman. In view of the popularity of Gershwin’s music in the 1920s and the numerous recordings of his tunes by jazz as well as by dance bands, it is surprising that Bix recorded only two Gershwin compositions. This CD is a way of remedying this: all the tunes in it, with the exception of Sunny Disposish with lyrics by George’s brother Ira, were composed by George Gerswhin. The complete list follows.

1. I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’
2. Oh, Lady, Be Good.
3. Sweet and Lowdown.
4. I Got Rhythm.
5. But Not For Me.
6. Kongo Kate.
7. I’ve Got A Crush On You.
8. Rialto Ripples.
9. The Half of it, Dearie, Blues.
10. ‘S Wonderful!Yankee Doodle Rhythm.
11. I Was So Young.
12. Fascinating Rhythm.
13. In A Mist.
14. Sunny Disposish.
15. Embraceable You # 1.
16. Embraceable You # 2.
17. Somebody Loves Me.

The interpretation of the tunes is, in general, what we would imagine Bix would have done with them. There are hints and citations to Bix’s recordings in almost every track. [A good parlor game would be the identification of the original tunes that are quoted.] Dick Hyman plays the piano in three different styles, Gershwin’s, Bix’s and Signorelli/Bargy/Hayton’s. Tom gives his view of how Bix would have soloed in these tunes. There is one exception. Dick Hyman explains. “Tom’s playing is authentically Bixian throughout, although he felt that on our first take of Embraceable You, a duet, his performance had been swayed by the famous Bobby Hackett recording. He asked to redo it in the following session. For our second try, I changed my piano style as well, deliberately making it more like Bix’s keyboard manner. The odd result might be described as Bix, the cornetist, being accompanied by himself as pianist.”

Sweet And Low-down and I’ve Got A Crush On You (with a short bit on trumpet at the end by Tom) are played by a trio only, Dick, Dan and Bob. Of course, this is an emulation of Bix (on piano), Tram and Eddie, and the three “new” guys do a magnificent emulation. The Half Of It, Dearie Blues is played by a quartet. Only a duet -Dick and Tom- play in Embraceable You. In A Mis” is a solo by Dick. It includes interpolations of the following Gerswhin tunes: Summertime, Fascinating Rhythm, Rhapsody in Blue, Porgy’s Theme, I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’, The Man I Love, Prelude II, and I Love You Porgy. It is an intriguing blending of Bix and Gerswhin, played flawlessly by Dick. The remaining of the tunes are played by the complete band. And what a band! I am a fan of the bass and baritone saxophones. Vince plays the bass sax with gusto, imagination and flair. His solo in Rialto Ripples could not be surpassed. Dan plays the C-melody sax in a highly Tram-like fashion. He certainly has an excellent technique and a marvelous sound. Dan also plays clarinet in an authentic 1920s style. Dave complements -with excellent taste and creativity- Tom and Dan as the third member of the front line. In some tracks -in particular “Kongo Kate”- Dave reminds me of my favorite trombonist, the great Miff Mole. The rhythm section with Bob and Ed provide a steady beat. The obscure Gerwshwin composition “Kongo Kate” is played with such authenticity that, were it not for the sound quality, I would have taken this to be a 1920s recording by the more advanced musicians of that era.

The musicianship in this CD is at an extremely high level. But that is not all. There are some additional, essential qualities clearly displayed in the sound of these recordings: passion, spontaneity and sense of history. Obviously, all the musicians are ardent Bixophiles and they have transmitted that passion into the music they play. I have heard dozens of “traditional” jazz bands. There are few that display the spontaneity, the sense of discovery characteristic of the original bands from the 1920s. The musicians in this band display this spontaneity: the music feels new, fresh. Finally, the sense of history. Most, if not all of the musicians in the band are into the history and tradition of 1920s jazz and dance bands. They have listened and studied the original recordings, they understand them and have a feel for them. That feeling permeates in their interpretations and styles.

Before I finish, I must emphasize that this is not a ”Bix recreation” CD in the sense that we are dealing with a note for note copy of Bix’s recordings. We are dealing with an original concept. The musicians took tunes that Bix never recorded, and, with Dick at the helm, provide us with their interpretation of how Bix and his fellow musicians would have played these tunes: it is totally new stuff.

Listening to this CD is like reliving the past in stereo. I tip my hat -with admiration- to these musicians and the extraordinary effort that went into creating new music in the manner that Bix could have played it: Bix Lives Again!

I am grateful to Dick Hyman for a gift of the CD.

Bix … He’s Back

CD HHZ-13. The tracks on this CD were recorded by the Queen City Jazz Band with vocalist Wende Harston at “Notably Fine Audio” in Denver, Colorado in June 2003. The tracks in the CD had been recorded by Bix with various groups.

• LOUISIANA
• AT THE JAZZ BAND BALL
• BABY, WON’T YOU PLEASE COME HOME?
• GOOSE PIMPLES
• BECAUSE MY BABY DON’T MEAN MAYBE NOW
• SINGIN’ THE BLUES
• FROM MONDAY ON
• BLUE RIVER
• CHINA BOY
• RHYTHM KING
• MY PRETTY GIRL
• GEORGIA ON MY MIND
• SORRY
• THERE AIN’T NO SWEET MAN
• TIAJUANA
• SINCE MY BEST GAL TURNED ME DOWN
• CHANGES
• CLARINET MARMALADE
• IN A MIST

The musicians in the band are: Bill Clark, tuba, leader and artistic director; John Bartmann, trumpet; Roger Campbell, clarinet; Eric Staffeldt, trombone; Bill Morse, Hank Troy, Mark Florypiano; Jim Tracy, banjo; Marl Shanahan, drums;   Wende Harston, vocalist.

The CD is a tribute to Bix on the occasion of Bix’s one hundredth birthday. Some of the arrangements and cornet solos are transcribed note-for-note. We read in the liners written by Jim Tracy, “We do this because many of Bix]s solos are gems that can stand alone as miniature compositions. We feel that they cannot be improved upon by improvisation.” Rather the musician’s taks is to enliven the score as it was originally written. As a “museum band” (a term coined by Bill Clark), we end to transcribe material quite often because we have a strong respect for the classics.”

In general, the CD is well-produced. Unfortunately, there a number of errors, chronological and discographical, in the liners. Thus,  the Wolverines are identified as Bix and His Gang and the personnel of the Wolverines is given erroneously as that of the early edition of Bix and His Gang. The Frank Trumbauer recordings are assigned  the dates (1925-1926) when they are, in fact, 1927-1928. “Georgia On My Mind” is listed a having been recorded by Paul Whiteman’ Orchestra when, in fact, it was recorded by Hoagy Carmichael and His Orchestra

Lino Patruno Presents “A Tribute to Bix”

Jazzology JCD-343. The tracks on this CD were recorded live at the 2003 New Orleans Jazz Festival in Ascona, Switzerland. It featured a series of tributes to Bix on the 100th anniversary of his birth. There are 15 tracks on the CD. All but four are numbers recorded by Bix with various groups. Here is the complete listing.

• Royal Garden Blues
• Jazz Me Blues
• Virginia
• Melancholy
• Fidgety Feet
• Skylark
• Sugar
• Slow River
• China Boy
• Way Down Yonder In New Orleans
• Bay Won’t You Please Come Home
• Going Places
• I’m Through With Love
• Honey
• Miss Hannah.

Some of the musicians are

• Tom Pletcher, Cornet
• Randy Sandke, Cornet
• Randy Reinhart, Cornet
• Jon-Erik Kellso, Cornet
• David Sager, Trombone
• Bob Wilber, Clarinet And Soprano Sax
• Kenny Davern, Clarinet
• Keith Nichols, Piano
• Lino Patruno, Guitar
• Howard Alden, Guitar
• Ed Metz, Jr, Drums
• Andy Stein, Violin

Scans of the complete liners, including photographs of each musician, the tunes in the CD, and the names of the musicians playing in each track are given.

I am grateful to Lino Patruno and to David Sager for their generous gifts of copies of the CD. The scans of the liners were kindly provided by Lino Patruno.

Bix but not too Bix

CD Nocturne 352. Issued October 15, 2004. Received the “Academy du Jazz” 2004 Award for the the “best French musician’s recording”, the “Prix Boris Vian.” Trumpeteer Patrick Artero is accompanied by Jacques Schneck on piano, Yoni Zelnik on string bass, and  Olivier Robin on drums. All tracks, except one, are either Bix’s compositions or tunes that Bix recorded.

• In A Mist
• Candlelights
• Flashes
• Blue River
• My Heart Stood Still
• Washboard Blues
• In The Dark
• Davenport Blues
• I’ll Be A Friend With Pleasure

The interpretations of these Bix classics are done in a modern style, antithetical to the special Bix sound and spirit.

Hi, Bix!

Jive Music CD JM 2047-2, “Heinz von Hermann Trio.” Issued  in 2004.  The trio consists of Heinz von Hermann (saxophone), Erwin Schmidt (piano), and Uli Langthaler (string bass).

Three of the tracks were recorded by Bix. There is also an original composition entitled “Hi, Bix!” The remaning tracks are jazz standards.

1. Hi, Bix!
2. In A Mist
3. Basin Street Blues
4. ‘Deed I Do
5. Sein Loose Blooze
6. Stars Fell On Alabama
7. Davenport Blues
8. Sweet Lorraine
9. Sunday
10. The Things We Did Last Summer
11. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams
12. Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans
13. Rosetta
14. We’ll Be Togheter Again

Beiderbecke Portrait

Joe LoCascio is a pianist/composer, originally from New York, who has resided in Houston, Texas for the last thirty years.  He is assistant chairman of Jazz Studies at Houston Community College. In 1988, Joe LaCascio recorded the album “In A Mist.” (GSS 1040). The album includes the four piano compositions by Bix Beiderbecke, “In A Mist,” “Candlelights,” “Flashes,” and “In the Dark,”, as well as his instrumental “Davenport Blues,” arranged by Mr. Locascio for piano.

I asked Mr. LoCascio about how he developed an interest in the music of Bix Beiderbecke. His answer:

It took me a few years to “get” Bix, and I pretty much, for a while, studied his music on faith alone. I had some pretty serious teachers who instilled the importance of history while still in my early 20’s. I try to do the same for my students.  I really can’t say what prompted me to write the portrait except that at the time I was totally immersed into Bix. Still am!

The album “In A Mist” includes the original compositon by Joe LoCascio “Beiderbecke Portrait.”

I am grateful to Mr. LoCascio for a gift of his album “In A Mist.”

Détail de l’album “Bixin’ The Blues” de Junior Dixieland Gang

Volume 1

• 1 – Louisiana – 183 s.
• 2 – Ballin’ The Jack – 154 s.
• 3 – Mississippi Mud – 162 s.
• 4 – Margie – 188 s.
• 5 – Canal Street Blues – 119 s.
• 6 – Wabash Blues – 164 s.
• 7 – Bixin’ The Blues – 194 s.
• 8 – (Back Come In) Indiana – 161 s.
• 9 – Royal Garden Blues – 161 s.
• 10 – Way Down Yonder In New Orleans – 176 s.
• 11 – Sensation Rag – 184 s.
• 12 – Jazz Me Blues – 165 s.
• 13 – Singin’ The Blues – 222 s.
• 14 – Honeysuckle Rose – 157 s.
• 15 – Sweet Sue Just You – 185 s.
• 16 – Nobody’s Sweetheart – 173 s.
• 17 – Limehouse Blues – 178 s.
• 18 – At The Jazz Band Ball – 183 s.

The Influence of Bix Beiderbecke

Volume One: The USA, Volume Two: Europe

The legendary cornetist Bix Beiderbecke (1903-1931) had a determining influence on many other jazz musicians during the 1920s; some of these were lucky enough to have heard Bix first-hand, while others became familiar with his unique style through recordings. Records featuring Bix’s solos were first issued in the USA in 1924, and by the late 1920s his lyrical style of playing was also becoming influential in Europe through records issued there. Therefore, “The Influence of Bix Beiderbecke” contains two CDs, one concentrating on the recordings of American jazz musicians and the other on records made by European musicians under the spell of Bix.

The CD-set contains many rare tracks that are being re-issued for the first time since their original release on 78 rpm record. Indeed, a number of sides are transferred from unissued test pressings and are being released for the first time ever, including two recently discovered unissued test pressings by Fred Elizalde and his Music. All show the important influence of Bix during his short lifetime. The recordings have been faithfully restored using the latest digital techniques while at the same time paying respect to sound of the original recordings. The CD-set is completed by two in-depth booklets (one of 28 pages and one of 36 pages) explaining the importance of Bix’s work and the crucial effect his playing had on other jazz musicians; both booklets are replete with many rare photographs, some reproduced in print for the first time.

Listing of Tracks

VOLUME ONE: USA

1. You’ll Never Get To Heaven With Those Eyes – George Olsen and his Music
2. Where’s My Sweetie Hiding? – Perley Breed’s Shepard Colonial Orchestra
3. Doo Wacka Doo – Marion McKay and his Orchestra
4. Cataract Rag Blues – Hitch’s Happy Harmonists
5. Riverboat Shuffle – Jimmy Joy’s St Anthony Hotel Orchestra
6. Tiger Rag – California Ramblers
7. The Co-Ed – Arcadian Serenaders
8. Davenport Blues – Miff Mole and his Molers
9. A Good Man Is Hard To Find – The Original Wolverines
10. Liza – McKenzie and Condon’s Chicagoans
11. Since My Best Gal Turned Me Down – Jan Garber and his Orchestra
12. Why Do I Love You? – Lou Raderman and his Pelham Heath Inn Orchestra
13. Crazy Rhythm – Miff Mole and his Molers
14. Hula Girl – Andrew Aiona’s Novelty Four
15. Out Where The Blues Begin – The Hotsy Totsy Gang
16. Wedding Bells – The Jazz Pilots
17. The Eyes Of Texas – Carolina Club Orchestra
18. Broadway Rose – Dick McDonough and his Orchestra
19. Alabammy Snow – Mason Dixon Orchestra
20. When A Woman Loves A Man – Roger Wolfe Kahn and his Orchestra
21. Papa’s Gone – Fred Gardner’s Texas University Troubadours
22. No Trumps – Fred Gardner’s Texas University Troubadours
23. Little Did I Know – Casa Loma Orchestra
24. Jazz Me Blues – Original Memphis Five
25. The Blue Room – Dorsey Brothers Orchestra

VOLUME TWO: EUROPE

1. Tiger Rag – The Original Capitol Orchestra
2. Riverboat Shuffle – The Kit-Cat Band
3. Somebody Said – Crichton Lyricals
4. Sugar – Fred Elizalde and his Music
5. Dance, Little Lady – Fred Elizalde and his Music
6. There’s A Cradle in Caroline – Rhythmic Eight
7. Some Hauntin’ Tune – Harry Hudson’s Melody Men
8. I’m Glad – Fred Elizalde and his Music
9. Nobody’s Fault But Your Own – Jack Payne and his BBC Dance Orchestra
10. Louisiana – Jay Whidden and his Band
11. Oh! What A Night For Love – Jack Hylton and his Orchestra
12. Forget Me Not – Jack Hylton and his Orchestra
13. A Dicky-Bird Told Me So – Jay Whidden and his Band
14. Gregorology – Gregor and his Gregorians
15. In The Moonlight – Night Club Kings
16. South Sea Rose – New Mayfair Dance Orchestra
17. Every Day Away From You – New Mayfair Dance Orchestra
18. The Song Of The Dawn – Jack Hart and his Band
19. I’m Singing My Way Round The World – Jack Hart and his Band
20. A Miss Is As Good As A Mile – Spike Hughes and his Decca Dents
21. Minns Du? – Helge Lindberg’s Orchestra
22. A Ship Without A Sail – Spike Hughes and his Dance Orchestra
23. Kalua – Spike Hughes and his Dance Orchestra
24. Follow A Star – Selection – New Mayfair Dance Orchestra
25. With My Guitar And You – Harry Shalson
26. Whispering – Night Club Kings

Profits raised from the sale of this CD set were initially sent to a fund established to help meet the medical expenses for author and jazz musician Richard Sudhalter, did much to bring Bix’s life and music to wider audiences. Sadly, Richard passed away on September 19, 2008 at the New York Presbyterian Hospital, after a long period of illness. It has therefore been decided, after consultation with the Sudhalter family, that all further donations will be sent to the Jazz Foundation of America (wwwj.jazzfoundation.org), an organization that helped Richard during his illness. The Jazz Foundation cares for approximately 1000 musicians, with 1600 emergency cases each year.

Richard Sudhalter’s works include “Bix, Man and Legend”, which was written in collaboration with Philip R. Evans and first published by Arlington Press in 1974, “Lost Chords: White Musicians and Their Contribution to Jazz, 1915-1945,” (Oxford University Press, 1999) and “Stardust Melody: The Life and Music of Hoagy Carmichael” (Oxford University Press, 2002). Sudhalter is also a much acclaimed musician whose Bix-influenced cornet and trumpet solos have graced numerous recordings.

Review by Barry McCanna published in Memory Lane. Wednesday, 03 September 2008

Review by Rob Rothberg from the magazine VINTAGE JAZZ MART.

In the September 1932 issue of ‘Rhythm’ magazine, Hoagy Carmichael wrote that Bix Beiderbecke’s cornet solos were “food for plenty of thought” and “something the younger generation can study for ideas even in composition.” In the wake of Bix’s death in 1931, Hoagy lamented that the “almost total lack of recognition of one such as Bix is beyond my understanding.”

But Bix’s influence on other musicians began early on and spread widely – even to Europe, despite the fact that Bix himself never set foot there. In the two-CD set “The Influence of Bix Beiderbecke,” Nick Dellow and his associates set out to demonstrate Bix’s influence during his lifetime through 51 rare recordings principally from 1924 through 1931, a period that roughly encompasses Bix’s brief recording career.

Volume 1 concentrates on American recordings, starting with George Olsen’s 1924 recording of You’ll Never Get to Heaven With Those Eyes, on which Red Nichols interpolates Bix’s solo from the Wolverines’ recording of Jazz Me Blues, recorded four months earlier. This early replication of a recorded Bix solo on another musician’s recording was not an isolated event; the California Ramblers’ record of Tiger Rag is another example, re-enacting Bix’s solo from the Wolverines’ record.

More interesting is the way in which Bix’s contemporaries absorbed aspects of Bix’s style and created something of their own. Sterling Bose emulates the bell-like tone and driving lead of the Wolverines-era Bix (including a break taken from the master’s record of Davenport Blues) on the Arcadian Serenaders’ The Co-Ed, recorded after the Serenaders had begun playing opposite Trumbauer’s band with Bix at the Arcadia Ballroom in St. Louis. Jimmy McPartland gives us a rough-sounding, scrappy version of Bix on the Original Wolverines’ A Good Man is Hard to Find, McKenzie/Condon Chicagoans’ Liza, and the Hotsy Totsy Gang’s Out Where the Blues Begin (on which he stays too close to the melody for my taste). Andy Secrest’s ability to sound like his bandmate is well known, and he sounds so good on the Mason-Dixon Orchestra’s Alabammy Snow that Max Easterman wonders if Bix is present, as a soloist or otherwise. (I think Secrest is underrated, but I don’t hear the pride of Davenport soloing or in the ensemble.) The softer-toned Bob Mayhew blows up a Bixian storm on The Eyes of Texas by the Carolina Club Orchestra and on Broadway Rose by Dick McDonough (or is it Mickey Bloom?), the last from an unissued test pressing with great sound. Red Nichols evokes Bix beautifully and without copying on Crazy Rhythm with Miff Mole’s Molers. Dub Schoffner, who evidently was far away from the microphone for the Casa Loma Orchestra’s Little Did I Know, displays some Bixian phrasing in a Gene Gifford arrangement clearly influenced by Bill Challis.

Manny Klein, the Zelig of jazz trumpet, is heard on Lou Raderman’s Why Do I Love You (Bixian tone, but too many notes for Bix) and on Bill Challis’s arrangement of The Blue Room, written for the Goldkette band but not recorded until this 1933 version by the Dorsey Brothers, on which Klein evokes both Bix (in the opening phrases) and Bunny Berigan in a derby-muted solo. The technically-accomplished Klein is almost certainly the creative, confident player behind the derby on Roger Wolfe Kahn’s When a Woman Loves a Man as well.

In addition, Volume 1 gives us territory bands, including Perley Breed’s Shepard Colonial Orchestra (Where’s My Sweetie Hiding), Jimmy Joy’s St. Anthony Hotel Orchestra (Riverboat Shuffle), Hitch’s Happy Harmonists (Cataract Rag Blues), and Marion McKay’s Orchestra (Doo Wacka Doo). Fred Gardner’s Texas University Troubadours display admirable drive on Papa’s Gone and No Trumps, and their trumpeter Tom Howell shows a Bixian lilt and a large, lovely sound (albeit with some technical insecurity). Andrew Aiona’s Novelty Four, whose identity is a discographical mystery, gives us Hula Girl, which will have you imagining Trumbauer’s band transplanted to the beach at Waikiki.

Along the way, we hear Bix’s influence on Jimmy Dorsey, on alto (the California Ramblers’ Davenport Blues) and clarinet (the Original Memphis Five’s Jazz Me Blues). Even players not known for sounding Bixian get into the act, such as Tommy Gott on the Jazz Pilots’ Wedding Bells, on which an unidentified scat singer channels the spirit of Harry Barris.

You’ll want to listen with Max Easterman’s splendid notes at your side. They offer a wealth of interesting detail not just about the recordings, but also the personalities and places involved. No matter how much you’ve read about the era, you will learn things that will enhance your appreciation of this music.

There are many rare photographs as well.

In Volume 2, we cross the pond to Europe, where Bix’s music exerted its influence directly, through recordings issued principally on Parlophone, Columbia and HMV, and indirectly, through emissaries such as Bix’s colleagues Adrian Rollini, Chelsea Quealey and Sylvester Ahola, who were ensconced in British bands. (Rollini even tried to recruit Bix in 1929 for Fred Elizalde’s band at the Savoy Hotel. Had he succeeded, one wonders if Bix would have lived longer.)

To my ears, Bix’s British disciples were his best. Norman Payne captured Bix’s chime-struck-with-a-padded-mallet tone and emotional reticence, particularly at slow and medium tempos.  Young Norman solos in an uncharacteristically assertive fashion in Jay Whidden’s A Dicky Bird Told Me So, then settles into a more lyrical mood for the New Mayfair Dance Orchestra’s Every Day Away from You, Jack Hart’s The Song of the Dawn and I’m Singing My Way Round the World, Spike Hughes’ Kalua, the New Mayfair Orchestra’s Follow A Star Selection, Harry Shalson’s With My Guitar and You (here with especially gorgeous tone), and the Night Club Kings’ Whispering. So effective is his evocation of Bix’s tone that he imbues the NMDO’s South Sea Rose with Bixian spirit merely by leading the ensemble (and also by ending the record with a break indebted to Bix’s introduction to Baltimore).

Jack Jackson tends to be underappreciated among jazz collectors, possibly because of his stint as the leader of a mostly sweet dance band in the mid-1930s. Here, however, we get Jackson the sideman, whose best work displays beautiful, pure tone, a Bix-like decisivene ss, and great technical mastery. On the  Crichton Lyricals’ 1927 record of Somebody Said, the teenage Jackson begins his solo by quoting Bix’s second break in Trumbauer’s recording of Riverboat Shuffle, then proceeds with a modernistic, multi-noted solo that bows mostly to Red Nichols.  (This acoustic recording has always struck me as a British counterpart to Bix’s acoustically recorded Broadway Bell-Hops date.) By the time of Jack Hylton’s Forget Me Not (note Poggy Pogson’s Bixian oboe solo!) and especially Oh! What A Night to Love, Jackson had rather less Nichols and more Bix, and was saying more with fewer notes. Night, on which the brass section crackles and Jackson alludes to Bix’s solo in Ostrich Walk, is a fine all-round performance that ought to be better known. We also hear Jackson on Spike Hughes’ record of A Ship Without A Sail, where Jackson and alto saxophonist Philip Buchel create an atmosphere that can make you wonder if you’re hearing a newly-discovered Trumbauer side.

Naturally, Sylvester Ahola is here as well. We know he was a great admirer of Bix, but he is, I think, mostly his own man, a great technician who showed a Bixian tone sometimes but Bixian ideas only rarely. Above all, Hooley is not, to use Paul Whiteman’s description of Bix, “a note miser.” He can remind you of someone running up and down a flight of stairs, as on the Rhythmic Eight’s There’s a Cradle in Caroline. When he restrains himself and slows down a bit, the results can be Bixian (e.g., Harry Hudson’s Some Hauntin’ Tune) or not. On the Night Club Kings’ In the Moonlight and particularly Spike Hughes’ A Miss is As Good as a Mile, his playing is very exciting and moving, but the aggressive, rangy style and strident tone aren’t Bixian.

But wait – there’s more. Max Goldberg does himself proud on Jay Whidden’s little-known record of Louisiana in a derby-muted solo modeled after Bix’s solo on the Whiteman record, although Bing Crosby need not worry about competition from Whidden’s stiff vocalist, Fred Douglas. (It would have been nice to have Max’s Bixian outing in Spike Hughes’ record of The Boop-Boop A Doopa  Doo Trot as well.)  Chelsea Quealey is heard with Fred Elizalde on Sugar (a Bill Challis arrangement also featuring Bobby Davis and Adrian Rollini, recorded a month before the better-known Whiteman version featuring Bix), an unissued take of Dance, Little Lady, and the Challis-influenced arrangement of I’m Glad, a lovely, hitherto-unknown performance from a recently-discovered test pressing that is issued here for the first time. We also get to hear England’s mysterious Frank Wilson (who left the music business to take up religion in the early 1930s and was not heard from again) on an unissued take of Nobody’s Fault But Your Own with Jack Payne; France’s Philippe Brun on Gregorology by Gregor et ses Gregoriens; Sweden’s Ragge Lath on Helge Lindberg’s record of Minns Du?; and Tiger Rag by the Original Capitol Orchestra, an American band in London with whom Bix had played aboard the steamboat S.S. Capitol. These are not records you see every day, at least in New York! Throughout, we are guided by Nick Dellow and Mark Berresford’s scholarly notes on the European tracks, with yet more rare photographs.

Care has been taken not to duplicate the tracks on Sunbeam’s Bix Restored, Volume 5. Nick Dellow’s careful digital restoration gives each recording vivid new life while respecting its 0riginal sound. As a result, even the tracks that a dedicated Bixophile might have heard before deserve another listen. (Full disclosure: I provided the source material for two of the European tracks here. Fuller disclosure: having listened to the records in question side by side with Nick’s transfers, I’m mpressed by what he has accomplished with them.) Apart from all of that, Bixophiles will be glad to have these recordings, packaged with perceptive commentary, in one convenient, affordable place, saving the significant cost of buying them one or two at a time on scattered CDs (not to mention the even more significant cost of buying the original records, if you can find them).

Profits from this set initially were contributed to a fund established to help meet the medical expenses of Richard M. Sudhalter, the Bix-inspired trumpeter and celebrated author of, among many other things, the books ‘Bix, Man and Legend’ (in 1974, with co-author Philip R. Evans) and ‘Stardust Melody: The Life and Music of Hoagy Carmichael’ (2003). (One of the CD set’s booklets includes a heartfelt tribute to Sudhalter from Bixography proprietor Albert Haim.) After Sudhalter’s death in September 2008, the profits were redirected to the Jazz Foundation of America, an organization that aids thousands of jazz musicians in crisis annually, and that helped Sudhalter during his illness. Thus is this musically worthy endeavor made even more worthy.

All in all, this set is a feast for Bixophiles. I’ll bet Hoagy would have loved it.

Bixology

A trio of musicians play the music of Bix Beiderbecke, Helmut Dold (co, tp, flh, voc), Lothar Binder (g, voc) and Uwe Ladwig (bsx, c-mel, hihat, voc, ld). Their first CD was issued in 2009.

1. Stampede (M: Henderson, 1926, Arr. Ladwig)
2. Because My Baby Don’t Mean Maybe (M+W: Donaldson, 1928, Arr: Dold)
3. Davenport Blues (M: Beiderbecke, 1925, Arr: Dold)
4. At The Jazzband Ball (M: LaRocca, Shields, 1918, Arr: Dold)
5. Clementine [from New Orleans] (M: Creamer, Warren, 1927, Arr: Ladwig)
6. Singin’ The Blues (M: Conrad, Robinson, W: Koehler, 1920, Arr:Ladwig)
7. Tia Juana (M: Conley, Rodemich, 1924, Arr: Dold)
8. Tiger Rag (M: LaRocca, W: De Costa, 1917, Arr: Bixology)
9. Rhythm King (M: Robinson, Trent, 1928, Arr. Ladwig)
10. Fidgety Feet (M: Shields, LaRocca, Ragas, 1918, Arr: Bixology)
11. Riverboat-Shuffle (M: Carmichael, 1924, Arr: Dold)
12. Somebody Stole My Gal (M+W: Wood, 1918, Arr. Dold)
13. Sorry (M: Quicksell, 1927, Arr: Dold)
14. Clarinet Marmelade (M: Shields, Ragas, 1918, Arr. Dold)
15. Royal Garden Blues (M: Williams, Williams, 1919, Arr: Dold)
16. Goose Pimples (M: Henderson, Trent, 1927, Arr. Ladwig)
17. Margie (M: Conrad, Robinson, W: Davis, 1920, Arr: Bixology)
18. Jazz Me Blues (M+W: Delaney, 1917, Arr: Bixology) 
19. China Boy (M: Winfree, Boutelje, 1922, Arr. Bixology) 
20. Live: Copenhagen (M: Davis, 1924, Arr: Dold) 
21. Live: My Pretty Girl (M: Fulcher, 1926, Arr: Dold)
22. Live: Jingle “Davenport Blues” (M: Beiderbecke, 1925, Arr: Dold)