Bix

by Scott Chantler

From the acclaimed Eisner Award–nominated creator of Two Generals and Northwest Passage comes a gorgeous and spare illustrated exploration of the rapid rise and tragic fall of 1920s legendary jazz soloist Leon “Bix” Beiderbecke.

Told in stunning illustrations, Bix is a near-wordless graphic biography highlighting the career of Leon “Bix” Beiderbecke, one of the most innovative jazz soloists of the 1920s next to the legendary Louis Armstrong. Composing and recording some of the landmark music in the early history of genre, Bix struggled with personal demons, facing the disapproval of his conservative parents and an increasing dependence on alcohol. Told mostly in silent panels to reflect his outsider quality and inability to communicate in anything other than musical terms, Bix tells the story of the rapid rise and tragic fall of a musical legend—a metaphor for the glories and risks inherent in the creative life.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Biography, Music, Nonfiction, Comics, History, Addiction

256 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 28, 2020

About the author

Scott Chantler is the acclaimed cartoonist of the graphic novels SQUIRE& KNIGHT, BIX, TWO GENERALS (which was long-listed for CBC’s CANADA READS: TRUE STORIES, named one of Chapters-Indigo’s Best Books of 2010, and selected for BEST AMERICAN COMICS 2012), NORTHWEST PASSAGE (which was nominated for Eisner, Harvey, Shuster, and Doug Wright Awards), and the THREE THIEVES series (the first book of which, TOWER OF TREASURE, won the Joe Shuster Award for Best Comic for Kids).

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scott Chantler is the creator of the brilliant adventure graphic novel series, Three Thieves. Now he has realized his long term labor of love, a biography of Bix Bierderbecke, a brilliant early jazz musician whose life was cut short by alcoholism. Except for one small section the story is told completely wordlessly, letting Chantler's emotive and evocative art tell the story.

Received a review copy from Gallery and Edelweiss. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I happen to have read two graphic novels in a row that are both about music and are wordless. At a glance, they couldn’t seem more different; one is Bix, by Scott Chandler about Bix Beiderbecke, a Davenport, Iowa pianist, cornetist and composer, one of the most influential musicians of the 1920’s. Bix didn’t talk much but communicated largely through his music. Loud, by Maria Llovet, takes place in a strip club with punk/rock music; it’s too loud to talk, one presumes; again, most of what you “hear” is music.

So both books are what I would call “art” comics (where formal, compositional elements seem to be foregrounded more than anything else), even “poetry” comics (where as with lyrical poetry, the comics foreground the juxtaposition of images as it is constructed--no, composed is the word at least as it pertains to these music books). Bix is a narrative, a biography of a quiet musician, but it proceeds as Loud does through images, the totality of which are. . . musical. But the effect is cool, dark, jazz, elegant. Impressive cartooning.

Loud has a narrative, and something dramatic at the end happens, but the narrative is not really the point, I think. The book is a series of images, that add up to. . .. music, but not jazz, but rather loud punk music roaring through the bar. In Loud we meet strippers, a pedophile looking for a young girl, a sadistic dominatrix, a divorcing middle-aged woman, two hitmen, but they swirl around in the drug and alcohol and music and nude dancing. “What’s going on” is more a sum of images than a story, though all the drama does lead to a conclusion, one that maybe fits the Tarantino-esque violence of punk more than jazz, but both feature deaths.

Llovet’s artwork is formally impressive; look closely at the formal progression of panel to panel, which is how comics speak, and you can see that it teaches a lot about how comics work to create a vision. Comics usually wed words and images. Both use words sparingly--Bix through one scene where his wife tries to get him to talk about his family; in Loud Llovet uses words for sounds, like bow, bum--those drums and bass throbbing-wob, crash, and a couple word bubbles throughout, but neither need words to help us understand what is going on. Impressive cartooning.

PS: I have family in Davenport, where each year they sponsor a race, "The Bix" and where the Bix Beiderbecke Museum is located:

https://www.bixmuseum.org/

Here's one of his tunes, "Sorry":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-SXi...

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

An artfully done biography of a Jazz Age figure of whom I was previously unaware. Apparently, Bix Beiderbecke didn't talk much, so Scott Chantler has chosen to tell his life story in a largely wordless manner with a single sequence of dialogue spread over twenty or so pages about a third of the way into this 252-page tale.

If you've seen an episode of VH1's Behind the Music series, you can pretty much predict how this tale of an alcoholic musician/composer will play out. But Chantler keeps it engaging with his marvelous art and it's simple format of a single row of five panels on each page. You can choose to "read" it quickly or linger over how much characterization and detail Chantler crams into each page.

I don't listen to much jazz. I listened to a recording of Beiderbecke's "In the Mist" on YouTube, and it seemed nice. I doubt I'll seek out more of his work or additional details of his life beyond what were on his Wikipedia page. But I will certainly seek out whatever graphic novel Chantler chooses to do next.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is apparently one of the biggest, most influential musicians of the 1920s, that you have never heard of. Self taught, tragically addicted to drink, he had the world at his feet and drank himself to death.



Mostly told with visuals, with bits, scraps of dialogue, we see his life from when he first played the piano, to the end of his too short life. It is amazing how much can be shown without having to use dialogue.


Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[Josh Brynildsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not sure if it is appropriate to I read this. Beyond much stylized onomatopoeia within the illustrations, there is very little text. This is not to say, however, that the lacked a syntax or vocabulary. Chantler executes a master class in possibilities of graphic storytelling.

Bix is the story of jazz musician Bix Beiderbecke and his struggles with family, fame, and addiction. Chantler tells it with over 200 pages of nearly wordless panels. For the most part the panels are presented in a strait line, not unlike a newspaper comic strip, on a seemingly oversized page. But when the action starts, particularly when the jazz really starts swing, we get to see what all that white space is there for.

The illustrations are a touch on the simple side and perhaps the book would’ve been more powerful if it 100% without conversation (though it makes those few more significant) but Bix is an excellent and unique piece of storytelling.

[Victor The Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Told almost wordless, the story of Roaring Twenties jazz soloist Leon Bix Beiderbecke’s life is told near perfectly with its black-and-white art as we see him overcome many personal obstacles while following his dream. A- (91%/Excellent)

[DRugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compressed pictorial story about the life of Leon Bix Beiderbecke, a jazz musician of the early twentieth century. The almost wordless composition gave the book a musical feel.

[Stephanie Racette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Février 2022. L’exécution graphique est vraiment géniale. Je m’attendais à un récit plus soutenu mais le rendu rythmique et l’alcoolisme de Bix sont bien représentés.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Bix' by Scott Chantler is an amazing graphic novel biography of Bix Beiderbecke.

Bix Beiderbecke was a jazz trumpet player in the 1920's. He died at a young age, but left behind some landmark recordings.

This book is told mostly without words, but Scott Chantler's amazing art conveys so much emotion. The whole thing has a lyrical bittersweet quality. The end is foreshadowed as Bix feels the pain of his father's rejection. The last few pages of panels are heartrending. This is one of the most amazing things I've read recently.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Gallery Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

[Sue Em · Rating 4 out of 5]

Telling the story of Bix Bierderbecke, in the graphic novel format intrigued me as an easy way to fill in gaps in my knowledge of jazz and it's creative geniuses. After reading the book, it certainly did that. The format was perfect for the story and the era of silent movies. Beautiful illustrations draw you into the story and mesmerize you with barely any text or dialogue. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic musical biography, Bix is nearly wordless, allowing Scott Chantler's pitch perfect art to do the heavy lifting. You could skim the book in 15 minutes, if you're a monster. Or you can pour over each panel and admire the minute details Chantler includes that allow this silent production to tell a complete story.

Bix's life is short but robust, another "gone-too-soon" tale that's hard to look away from. Chantler does a good job in the latter of half of the book demonstrating Bix's struggles with alcoholism. The first half plays a little loose with the booze, though, with the art making it look like Bix is a peppy 16 year old who keeps taking pulls from a flask. I mean, maybe that was the case for the real Bix, but it felt strange in the book.

With so few words, Bix does lose some of the details. But the book is excellent enough that I can almost guarantee you'll be looking up Bix Beiderbecke on Wikipedia after you finish.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel tells the story of jazz musician Bix Beiderbecke, who lived and died during the 1920s and early Depression era. I liked the consistency of the illustrations- clean with black and blue tones. I learned a lot from this historical biography, having previously never heard of Bix. This is a quick read but a tough pill to swallow as so much of the narrative focuses on Bix’s downward spiral into alcoholism. Though talented, Bix had an antagonistic relationship with his father and seemed to get in trouble quite a bit. While this book succeeds in storytelling largely with pictures (very few words, in fact), I wish the author had included a bit more of a narrative in either a preface (which is there but could be expanded upon) or an afterword (perhaps with real picture or a timeline). Also, as Bix ages I confused him a bit with other characters- all somewhat blending together. Nonetheless, I appreciate this book for what it is and found it to be largely successful.

[Diego Munoz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this on one sitting. Not many words in this graphic novel, but the art and the sequencing are amazing, making you forget that there are no words. The authors accomplishment, to research the topic, and to craft this life story in this manner, in this format, gives this a double thumbs up from me.

No need to be interested in Jazz or music to enjoy this.

[Émilie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Une biographie qui se regarde comme un photo roman... Les illustrations m'ont plu et l'histoire rapide m'a rendu curieuse d'écouter au moins quelques pièces de ce soliste jazz que je ne connaissais pas (1920)!

[Stephane Savoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Belle BD qui nous fait découvrir, pour ceux qui ne le connaissait pas comme moi, le parcours de Bix. Très peu de mots, les images disent tout.

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd never heard of Bix Beiderbecke but his story is well told with nearly wordless panels that convey the joy of music as well as the tragedy of a musician lost.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bix by Scott Chantler, 252 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL, NON-FICTION, BIOGRAPHY. Gallery 13, 2020. $30.

Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

From a young age, Leon “Bix” Beiderbecke was entranced by music -- especially jazz music -- but his father didn’t approve the pursuit of that dream. Bix was sent to school and work, encouraged to give up music. But he would not let go that easily, for Bix was meant to play.

Chantler uses a lot of clever storytelling, opting to tell the story nearly entirely through illustrations (about 90 percent pictures and 10 percent words). This structure makes the life of Bix a quick read, though not an easy one with the ups and downs of emotion. Throughout the triumphs and disappointments, the illustration-versus-word set up made me feel like I could actually hear music in the background. Despite the tragedy of how Bix’s life concludes, I found that the ending was the most beautiful part. The mature content rating is for underage drinking, alcohol abuse, and partial nudity.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2020...

[Abraham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful artwork! Definitely recommend listening to some music by Bix while you're reading it. I did and really enjoyed it. It helped set the mood.

[J Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bix from Scott Chantler is a sparse yet moving graphic biography that I think will appeal very differently to different people.

I am familiar with both Beiderbecke's life and music. He was one of my father's favorites so from a young age I had heard his music and heard about his life. As I got older I read a bit more about his life and realized there is mostly grey with very little black and white about his life. Last year I read Finding Bix which was as much about sorting through the various legends and stories about him as it was a biography. I state all of this because I think to a reader such as myself, this new book serves as a powerful statement about Bix, his life, and his legend. For someone who has simply heard of and maybe heard some music of his, I think they will come away with a different feeling. And someone for whom Bix is an unknown will take away something else yet again.

To try to explain, I'll start with what I know, which is what I took from this book. The minimalist nature of the work, from basic drawings to very few words, leaves a lot for the reader to fill in. Knowing a bit about his life, or at least the dominant interpretations about his life, I saw in facial expressions and the placement of people and locations elements of Beiderbecke's life in stark contrast to what a typical biography, graphic or otherwise, might try to draw. The highs were, I think, that much higher for me and the lows were, also, that much lower for me. The images moved me largely because I knew his story for the most part.

For someone only vaguely familiar, or not at all, with Beiderbecke, I think the highs and lows are quite evident but where I filled in gaps with what I knew (or had heard) these readers will largely feel compassion (and sometimes anger or exasperation) with Bix and will want to learn more details to supplement this trip through his life. I do think these readers will still find enjoyment in the book, but not the same as I did.

I do find this ability to appeal to both sides of the coin to be a positive of the book. There are far too many question marks about his life for there to be a truly definitive biography. This works to utilize that fact for those familiar with him, so we fill in the blanks with the story as we believe it to be. It also works for those less or unfamiliar with Bix by offering enough story to frame his life and thus intrigue that reader and, hopefully, to seek more of both his story and his music.

I recommend this to anyone who loves jazz, music in general, and biographies of musicians. Just understand, this is not an in depth biography (I'm not sure there can be an accurate one) but it is an emotional roller coaster ride similar to the short but bright life of Bix Beiderbecke.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review origina;;y published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 5.0 of 5

Wow.

If you've ever wondered at how important the artwork in a graphic novel is to telling a story, you should definitely give Scott Chantler's Bix a read. If you've heard of Bix Beiderbecke but don't know much about him and want to know more, then you should give Scott Chantler's Bix a read. If you've never heard of Bix Beiderbecke but have an interest in jazz music or American history or biographies, then you should read Bix.

Bix Beiderbecke was an amazing jazz trumpet player in the 1920's, born in Iowa to a strict family with an unforgiving father. Bix tried to live a 'normal' life but the call of music was too strong. His skills were strong and he played with some of the biggest names in jazz at the time, and his name will appear on a few records. But like something right out of a dime novel, Bix was haunted by demons - demons that often came from a bottle. Those demons would cause him to miss gigs, and he'd regularly lose jobs.

The actual dialog in this 250+ page graphic novel is quite slim - the first word balloon doesn't appear until page 80! - but Chantler's art and layout is SO expressive that we don't need dialog to understand the story or the emotions of the characters.

The story is quite basic and touches the highlights (low-lights?) of his life, so those more familiar with the Bix Beiderbecke story may not get anything new from this story (I reviewed a Bix biography in 2018) but this is still very much worth reading for the format - the dialog-lite graphic novel.

Looking for a good book? Scott Chantler's graphic novel Bix is an incredibly well-made, unique biography that is well worth reading.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

[Carolina Colleene · Rating 2 out of 5]

Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG
From a young age, Leon “Bix” Beiderbecke was entranced by music -- especially jazz music -- but his father didn’t approve the pursuit of that dream. Bix was sent to school and work, encouraged to give up music. But he would not let go that easily, for Bix was meant to play.
Chantler uses a lot of clever storytelling, opting to tell the story nearly entirely through illustrations (about 90 percent pictures and 10 percent words). This structure makes the life of Bix a quick read, though not an easy one with the ups and downs of emotion. Throughout the triumphs and disappointments, the illustration-versus-word set up made me feel like I could actually hear music in the background. Despite the tragedy of how Bix’s life concludes, I found that the ending was the most beautiful part. The mature content rating is for underage drinking, alcohol abuse, and partial nudity.
Reviewed for https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/

[April Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

A moving and sometimes frustrating graphic biography of Leon “Bix” Beiderbecke, one of the most innovative and influential jazz soloists of the 1920s. I say frustrating because he was such a brilliant musician, but his addiction to alcohol took over his life, and contributed to the health conditions leading to his death in 1931 at the age of 28. It's frustrating to think what more he could have accomplished in his life and career had he not had those personal demons haunting him. The nearly wordless format works well with this story, as not much is known or agreed upon about Bix- his life has become somewhat of a legend, and the lack of dialogue or narration gives more room for interpretation, in my opinion. The artwork is wonderful, and the mix of linear panels and multi-panel bursts adds a nice movement to the story, like bursts of music. A visual treat that brings all the emotions, along with a bittersweet tribute to a musical genius.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I plucked this off the shelf from a neighboring library not knowing what the story was or what it was about. It looked interesting, a graphic novel told with almost no text. It wasn't until I got it home and read the inside jacket cover did I learn it was based on the life of a real person, jazz musician Leon Bix Beiderbecke who lived during the 1920s.

The book starts off with 'Bix' as a child when he first displays his talent for music and moves through the key points of his life. Most of the pages consist of multiple small panels horizontally aligned making it easy for the eye to move from one to the next. The art isn't overly detailed, but that fits for this type of story telling.

Despite being over 200 pages this is a fairly quick read, taking me just over half an hour to complete.

[Melissa Nisbet · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s incredible what Chantler can do with little to no words. The story of a lost artist beautifully portrayed - the dream, the passion, the lack of support, the ups and downs of relationships both professional and personal. I loved that some frames included the actual titles of songs and I listened as I read through the book. Really made it for me! Especially the double page spreads where there are multiple frames flowing through the pages as if you see the jazzy rhythm and melody take form! Amazing.

[Patrick Book · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars for sure! Gorgeously depicted, yes, but the spare (some might say gimmicky) conceit of stripping virtually all dialogue from his story definitely diminishes the scope of influence from Bix’s story. It’s kind of depressing how, when boiled down to its constituent parts, the arc of his story seems pretty one-note and maudlin. But Chantler does note that his ill fate acts as a template for generations of fundamentally broken musicians to come so...that makes sense.

[amy boese · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well told, extremely well executed graphic novel, a lovely, almost wordless plot. I feel badly for Bix and his attempts at success, but ultimately, I did not have any sympathy for him, for his sad life, or for his wasted ending. I would like to hear more about Ruth, and really more about anyone other than Bix. *shrug*

[Heather Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wordless graphic novel was a gorgeous biography of the almost mythical Bix Biederbecke, who Quad Citians will recognize. I was captivated by the storytelling in this book and promptly went down the Google and YouTube rabbit hole, planning a trip to the Bix museum in Davenport to round out my limited knowledge of Bix.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

This almost wordless biography of Bix Beiderbecke illustrates the thin line between creativity and destructive behavior. Bix was an innovative jazz soloist in the 1920's; a contemporary of Louis Armstrong who was forging his own style. His battle with alcoholism took him when he was only 28 years old. An innovative and entertaining GN.

[Allen Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

A visually arresting story of a forgotten musician made all the more striking by its almost complete disregard for dialogue. It is a tale of a great talent and a downward spiral, a story of sound told solely in pictures. The irony is strong. So is the book.

[Ryan Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I consider myself pretty well-versed musically, but I hadn’t heard of Bix. This is well-drawn with good character development and pacing. It’s also a reminder of what not to do to be the parent I want to be.