Who was Bix Beiderbecke and how would you describe his style?
Bix Beiderbecke, in full Leon Bismark Beiderbecke, (born March 10, 1903, Davenport, Iowa, U.S.—died August 6, 1931, Long Island, New York), American jazz cornetist who was an outstanding improviser and composer of the 1920s and whose style is characterized by lyricism and purity of tone.
Where is Bix Beiderbecke from?
Davenport, IA
Bix Beiderbecke/Place of birth
Was Bix Beiderbecke white?
Critics and historians would consider Bix to be the prototypical white jazz musician, if that term has any meaning at all. This cornet player appeared like a meteor in the 1920s and had a brief but brilliant career until booze and consumption killed him. His black counterpart was Louis Armstrong, whom he revered.
What happened Bix Beiderbecke?
The indisputable facts: On Thursday, August 6, 1931, at 9:30 p.m. Bix, the great Davenport cornetist, died in New York City. According to the front page article of the Davenport Democrat and Leader, a predecessor of the Quad-City Times, the cause of death was pneumonia. “He died, and it was related to his alcoholism.”
Who was Bix Beiderbecke inspired by?
As a youngster, Bix was inspired by Louis Armstrong. “I distinctly remember one night I went down to the levee and up on the deck of the Capitol where there was a new trumpet player, Louis Armstrong,” wrote Bix years later.
Was Bix Beiderbecke good?
Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s, a cornet player noted for an inventive lyrical approach and purity of tone, with such clarity of sound that one contemporary famously described it like “shooting bullets at a bell.
Did Bix Beiderbecke and Louis Armstrong ever meet?
Drummer Baby Dodds recalled that Bix and Louis first met in the summer of 1920 when the Mississippi riverboat, the S.S. Capitol, pulled into Davenport with Armstrong on board playing cornet with Fate Marable’s Orchestra. Bix showed up at the dock from his nearby family home and fell in love with Armstrong’s playing.
Where did Beiderbecke live when he passed away?
Treatment for alcoholism in rehabilitation centers, with the support of Whiteman and the Beiderbecke family, failed to stop his decline. He left the Whiteman band in 1929 and in the summer of 1931 he died in his Sunnyside, Queens, New York apartment at the age of 28.
How old was Bix Beiderbecke when he started playing cornet?
He was only 28 years old. The story of Bix and his music is important for many reasons. Although the child prodigy was trained on piano, he taught himself the cornet. His love for music and his determination to play the new jazz sounds he heard as a boy helped him develop a style that was unique.
Was Bix Beiderbecke an alcoholic?
Beiderbecke was twenty-eight when he died and by nearly all accounts he was an alcoholic. In September of 1929—almost two years before the end—he was admitted to the Keeley Institute, in Dwight, Illinois, the nation’s premier alcohol rehabilitation facility.
Where did Bix Beiderbecke live after death?
New York
Treatment for alcoholism in rehabilitation centers, with the support of Whiteman and the Beiderbecke family, failed to stop his decline. He left the Whiteman band in 1929 and in the summer of 1931 he died in his Sunnyside, Queens, New York apartment at the age of 28.
What caused the downfall of Bix Beiderbecke?
In my view the most intriguing “legend” to join this company is Bix Beiderbecke, the remote and mysterious jazz cornettist who died in obscurity in a New York neighbourhood on August 6 1931 at 28. The reason was pneumonia, but the end of his short life was induced by heavy drinking of bathtub gin.