RECORDINGS
Tributes to Bix
RECORDINGS
Tributes to Bix
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.
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Wolverine Orchestra in the Gennett studios have been replaced by the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!
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.
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.
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".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.
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.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.
composed
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." I believe that this is an apocryphal Bix tune -see some discussion of this tune by clicking here.
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. Other talented musicians are described as follows in the iclassics website. "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.
For additional information about Geoff Muldaur go
to his website.
For samples of the tracks, additional information about the album, and
where to purchase it, click here.
For a review of the CD by NPR's David Greenberger go to http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1440418
and click on the link to
All Things Considered Audio.
I am grateful to Dick Connette and Steve Weiss for correspondence and for their generosity. .
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.
cornetist
who comes the closest
in recreating the sound and music of Bix. A detailed description of the
show is
given in http://ms.cc.sunysb.edu/~alhaim/eventscelebrating.htm/IfBixPlayedThe
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.
| 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 |
| 13. Rosetta |
| 14. We'll be together again |
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
| THE INFLUENCE OF BIX BEIDERBECKE |
| VOLUME
ONE: USA 1. You'll Never Get To Heaven With Those Eye 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 29. 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 |
| The Influence of Bix Beiderbecke: Jass Masters (Volume One: USA/ Volume Two: Europe) |  |
 |
| Written by Barry McCanna | |
| Wednesday, 03 September 2008 | |
|
The aim of this compilation is evident from the title, to chart how Bix’s playing cast its spell over those musicians who heard his music, both in person and on record, and how that was then reflected in their own work. This aspect was touched upon in Volume 5 of the Bix Restored set, and care has been taken to avoid duplicating anything on that earlier reissue. [Click here for a Jazz Police review of Bix Restored.] Just to give you a flavour of the contents, the American disc kicks off with a June 1924 George Olsen recording into which, regardless of the fact that it was an entirely different number, Red Nichols interpolated note-for-note Bix’s February 1924 solo from “Jazz Me Blues.” Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, he did the same thing with Bix’s solo from “Tiger Rag” during the California Ramblers May 1925 recording of the same number. And here we run up against one of those puzzles that have plagued Bix scholars for years, namely that the Wolverines’ recording wasn’t issued until over 10 years later. Max Easterman’s 28-page booklet provides an authoritative guide to this and every other track, dispelling the myths that have grown up around them, not least the thorny question of attribution. That is to say, many of the contributions on record, by such disciples as Andy Secrest, Sterling Bose, and Manny Klein, were virtually indistinguishable from the genuine article. Turning to the European compilation, there were two reasons why distance did not diminish Bix’s influence. The first was that many of his recordings were issued in England on the Parlophone label, an advertisement for which is reproduced, and reviewed enthusiastically in the Melody Maker by its editor, Edgar Jackson. Secondly, many of the American contingent working in England, not least those playing with Fred Elizalde’s band at the Savoy Hotel, were Bixophiles, and infected others with their enthusiasm. One of the most riveting facts contained in the 36-page booklet by Nick Dellow and Mark Berresford is that on his scouting trip to the States in early 1929, Rollini was hoping to lure Bix back to England with him! Sylvester Ahola, who had played alongside Bix in Adrian Rollini’s short-lived Club New Yorker band, to their mutual benefit, contributed many magnificent solos to British dance band recordings, as did Norman Payne (who probably came closest to capturing Bix’s ethereal quality) and Jack Jackson, but there are many other examples here to savour. This is a magnificent set which has been a considerable time in the making, and the care that’s been taken shows in every aspect. The two booklets contain many new photographs, and the second includes a complete discography. Many of the original recordings are extremely rare, few have been reissued on CD, and those that have are not easy to come by. The set contains four unissued test pressings, including the hitherto unknown “I’m Glad” by Fred Elizalde. Great care has been taken to track down clean copies, and the remastering is a hallmark of clarity. Finally,
this truly has been a labor of love because all profits from the sale
of this set of CDs will go toward helping to meet the ongoing medical
expenses of musician and author Richard Sudhalter. It is priced
at £15
($30 US) including p&p, and can be ordered from Jass Masters, 71
Chalk Hill, Watford, Herts WD19 4DA, UK, or by phone to +44-1923-237910
or fax to +44-1923-211510, or email to
nick.dellow@gmail.com
;
see http://bixography.com/BixInfluenceFinal.html for
US ordering information. Payment can be made by PayPal, using the same
email address. Volume
One: USA - You’ll Never Get To Heaven With Those Eyes (George Olsen);
Where’s My Sweetie Hiding? (Perley Breed); Doo Wacka Doo (Marion
McKay); Cataract Rag Blues (Curtis Hitch); Riverboat Shuffle (Jimmy
Joy); Tiger Rag (California Ramblers); The Co-Ed (Arcadian Serenaders);
Davenport Blues (Miff Mole); A Good Man Is Hard To Find (Original
Wolverines); Liza (McKenzie & Condon); Since My Best Gal Turned Me
Down (Jan Garber); Why Do I Love You? (Lou Raderman); Crazy Rhythm
(Miff Mole); Hula Girl (Andy Aiona); Out Where The Blues Begin (Hotsy
Totsy Gang); Wedding Bells (Jazz Pilots);The Eyes of Texas (Carolina
Club); *Broadway Rose (Dick McDonough); Alabammy Snow (Mason Dixon
Orch); When A Woman Loves A Man (Roger Wolfe Kahn); Papa’s Gone (Fred
Gardner); No Trumps (Fred Gardner); Little Did I Know (Casa Loma); Jazz
Me Blues (Original Memphis 5); The Blue Room (Dorsey Bros) -
78:29 Volume
Two: Europe – Tiger Rag (Original Capitol Orch.); Riverboat Shuffle
(Kit-Cat Band); Somebody Said (Crichton Lyricals); Sugar (FE); There’s
A Cradle In Caroline (Rhythmic Eight); *Dance, Little Lady (FE); Some
Hauntin’ Tune (Harry Hudson);*I’m Glad (FE); *Nobody’s Fault But Your
Own (Jack Payne); Louisiana (JW); Oh! What A Night To Love (JHy);
Forget Me Not (JHy); A Dicky-Bird Told Me So (JW); Gregorology
(Gregor): In The Moonlight (NCK); South Sea Rose (NMDO); Every Day Away
From You (NMDO); The Song Of The Dawn (JH); I’m Singing My Way Round
The World (JH); A Miss Is As Good As A Mile (SH); Minns Du? (Helge
Lindberg); A Ship Without A Sail (SH); Kalua (SH); Follow A Star –sel
(NMDO); With My Guitar And You (Harry Shalson); Whispering
(NCK) -
79:08 Key: FE – Fred Elizalde; JH – Jack Hart; SH –
Spike Hughes; JHy – Jack Hylton; NMDO – New Mayfair Dance Orchestra:
NCK – Night Club Kings; JW – Jay Whidden
*unissued test pressing |
Review by Rob Rothberg from
the magazine VINTAGE JAZZ MART (www.vjm.biz)
2 CD SET: THE INFLUENCE OF BIX BEIDERBECKE. Jass Masters JMS1001. Available from Jass Masters, 71 Chalk Hill, Watford WD19 4DA, England. www.bixbeiderbecke.com. £15, E20 or $30 including p+p.
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.
ROB
ROTHBERG
1. Stampede (M: Henderson, 1926, Arr. Ladwig) 1:39
BRIEF TABLE OF CONTENTS
Recordings
The
Original 78's
Analysis
of Some Recordings: Is It Bix or Not ?
Complete
Compilations of Bix's Recordings
Tributes
to Bix
Miscellaneous
Recordings Related to Bix
In
A Mist
