Bix: The Definitive Biography Of A Jazz Legend

by Jean Pierre Lion, Gabriella Page-Fort

"You can tell the whole there’ll never be another Bix Beiderbecke. Take that from Satchmo! He was a born genius…"--Louis Armstrong Bix Beiderbecke is one of jazz music’s most enigmatic figures, and he has captivated listeners since his career began in the 1920s. He died at just 28, leaving many loose ends and inspiring much speculation. This book aims to clarify many of the myths created by the musician's premature death and the fictionalizations of Bix's life (three novels and a "Remembering Bix" by Ralph Berton, "1929" by Fredericks W. Turner, and "Young Man with a Horn" by Dorothy Baker, and the 1950 film of Baker's novel by Michael Curtiz), and to update his two prior biographies ("Bix, Man and Legend" being out of print for many years). French jazz scholar Jean Pierre Lion traveled the trajectory of Bix’s life, from birth to death, to boarding school, on tour and beyond, to find the true story of this pivotal figure. Considered a genius by his fans and fellow musicians, Bix Beiderbecke was a master cornet player, and one of the most inspiring white jazz musicians of his age. He drank heavily during Prohibition, and fell ill from the toxic swill he had been drinking. When he died he left behind a tremendous list of recordings (included here in a definitive discography) and several original compositions. This biography culls the entirety of Bix scholarship into one volume, painting a complete picture of the man, his music, and his times. Lion brings the true legend of Bix into historical context, underlining the importance of the jazz scene that Bix not only participated in, but also helped to establish. The originality of Bix’s style has roots in New Orleans jazz and such classical composers as Debussy and Ravel, and this biography traces the evolution of these various inspirations alongside the tale of the white cornet player. Historical ambience is created by descriptions of the Chicago of the 1920s – ruled by Al Capone and peopled with fast cars, flappers and hot jazz musicians – and Bix’s personality is fleshed out by excerpts from the few letters he wrote in his lifetime, and memories of friends and witnesses of the jazz-age. The story is lively and emotional, the testament of a true fan and a true scholar.

Genres: Music, Biography, Jazz

368 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Ann Otto · Rating 3 out of 5]

To fully appreciate this 2004 French biography of jazz great Bix Beiderbecke one has to be fully engaged and knowledgeable in jazz history, especially in the 1920s. I've been interested in the topic since watching Ken Burns' PBS Jazz series years ago. But that didn't prepare me for the amount of detail in Lion's book. It's not as much a biography as a month-to-month and sometimes daily telling of Bix's travels, performances, friends, and colleagues from his teen years to his early death in 1931. His relationship with his family was always strained and Lion is able to describe Bix's and other colleagues' obsession with music above other aspects of their lives. A must-read for any music enthusiast.

[L.M. Elm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bix is the go-to biography for anyone wanting to dig into the short and tragic life of the Davenport native. Leon uses the words of Bix's contemporaries and friends to show Bix at his greatest: on the stage with a cornet in his hands. His worst: drowning his insecurities in endless bottles of gin. The jazz band's nomatic lifestyle in the 1920s coupled with the instability of employment and the illegal, but free flowing liquor only compounded Bix's problems. By the book's conclusion, I understood Bix in a way I hadn't before. The jazz culture breathed life and purpose into him, but no matter how beautifully he played, or how much praise he received, he could never live up to his own expectations, and that's what really got him in the end.

[Jeffrey J J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly engaging biography of a musical comet that passed through the American story in the 1920s and '30s; the stuff of American tragedy. The lore goes that Bix first heard Louis Armstrong and the New Orleans sound wafting from a touring riverboat to the shores of Davenport, Iowa, and his musical genius was awakened. Despite a comfortable, but provincial family life, Bix departed for the rich musical haunts of South Side Chicago and the rest is legend; how lucky we are to have the recordings to remind us of his prodigious, joyous skill -- notwithstanding his sad demise...

[Brendan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The definitive biography of Bix Beiderbecke has been out of print for 30 years, and finally, FINALLY, there is a worthy replacement. Lion has condensed and clarified much of the scholarship on the early jazz cornetist, adding some of his own, and published it in a beautifully laid out edition. This is a must for Beiderbecke fans.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and heartbreaking. Lion writes brilliantly about Bix's recordings, and unflinchingly details his sad decline. The Jazz Age as it was experienced at street level by working musicians, not the romantic Gatsby picture. Maybe the best music bio I've read.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite biography, ever.