Bix Beiderbecke

Bix Beiderbecke was an American jazz cornetist, pianist, and composer. His solos on seminal recordings such as ‘Singin’ the Blues’ and ‘I’m Coming, Virginia’ heralded the jazz ballad style. He died in his Sunnyside, Queens, New York apartment at the age of 28 in 1931. There is disagreement over whether he was christened Leon Bix or Leon Bismark and nicknamed ‘Bix’

About Bix Beiderbecke in brief

Bix Beiderbecke was an American jazz cornetist, pianist, and composer. He was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s. His solos on seminal recordings such as ‘Singin’ the Blues’ and ‘I’m Coming, Virginia’ heralded the jazz ballad style. His piano style reflects both jazz and classical influences. All five of his piano compositions were published by Robbins Music during his lifetime. His life has often been portrayed as that of a jazz musician who had to compromise his art for the sake of commercialism. He died in his Sunnyside, Queens, New York apartment at the age of 28 in 1931. There is disagreement over whether he was christened Leon Bix or Leon Bismark and nicknamed ‘Bix’ His mother was the daughter of a Mississippi riverboat captain and his father was a well-to-do coal merchant and lumber merchant named after Otto von Bismarck of Germany. More recent research suggests a relative of his will suggests that he was named ‘Leon Bix’ and his parents called him Bix, which seems to have been his preference. In a letter to his mother when he was nine years old, BeiderBecke signed off ‘frome your Bix’, not ‘Bismark Remeber’ The son of German immigrants, he was born on March 10, 1903, in Davenport, Iowa. His older brother, Charles Burnette, was nicknamed ‘Burnie’ and was also called Bix.

He played the cornet largely by ear, leading him to adopt a non-standard fingering technique that informed his unique style. He composed or played on recordings that are jazz classics and standards like ‘Davenport Blues’, ‘Copenhagen’, ‘Riverboat Shuffle’, and ‘Georgia on My Mind’ His most influential recordings date from his time with Jean Goldkette and Paul Whiteman, although he also recorded under his own name and that of Trumbauer’s. He made his greatest recordings in 1927. His death, in turn, gave rise to the legend of ‘The Young Man with a Horn’  in magazine articles, musicians’ memoirs, novels, and Hollywood films. He has been envisaged as a Romantic hero, the ‘Young Man with A Horn’ and a ‘Jazz Romantic’ in many books and films. His son Burnie claimed that the boy was named Leon Biz and biographers have reproduced birth certificates that agree. He left the Whiteman band in 1929 and in the summer of 1931 he died in New York City. He is survived by his brother Burnie and his wife, Agatha Jane Hilton, and two children, Charles and Charles Burnie Beider Becke, and a son, Charles Bizet. He also leaves behind a wife and a daughter, Susan Beider becke, who was a teacher at the University of Iowa. He had a son and two daughters, both of whom are still living.

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