Singin' the Blues, Vol.1

Beiderbecke, Bix

album cover

The Sweet Side of Early Jazz

Of all the hotshots who made important music between early jazz and the rise of swing in the 1930s, the cornetist Bix Beiderbecke (1903–1931) is among the least appreciated. That's partly because he wasn't a typical hotshot: The self-taught musician gravitated toward the downcast and the contemplative, using his pure, piercing tone to make a potent first impression. Like every jazz aspirant of the 1920s, Beiderbecke toiled in the shadow of Louis Armstrong. But the lean, pomade-wearing kid born to second-generation German parents from Davenport, Iowa, wisely didn't try to imitate Satchmo. Instead, Beiderbecke pursued a sound that emphasized finesse over raw power. He understood the stop-time tricks and other conventions of early jazz, and filled each break with disarmingly wistful phrases that could not be easily copied.

All of Singin' the Blues, Vol. 1, was recorded in 1927, the year in which Beiderbecke went from Midwestern jazz curiosity to the star soloist of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. (According to legend, the latter position did him in: Beiderbecke, an alcoholic, died longing to return to the freedom of a small group.) During that year, Beiderbecke and his longtime foil, the saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer, played in New York and cut these sprightly small-group sides, little gems of early jazz notable for their spiffed-up arrangements and restrained, at times almost "cool," solos. Beiderbecke was exploring harmony outside of standard jazz—his famed piano composition included here, "In a Mist," reveals the influence of Claude Debussy. On some of Beiderbecke's most engaging solos, such as "Singin' the Blues" and "I'm Coming Virginia," he darts around the accompaniment, which includes Eddie Lang on single-string guitar, hinting at a modernity that was years (maybe even decades) away.

Genre: Jazz
Released: 1990, Columbia/Legacy
Key Tracks: "Singin' the Blues," "I'm Coming Virginia," "In a Mist," "Humpty Dumpty."
Next Stop: Louis Armstrong: The Complete Hot Fives and Hot Sevens
After That: Benny Moten: Benny Moten's Great Band of 1930.
Book Pages: 71–72

Buy this Recording

Share this page: