At the Jazz Band Ball - Bix Beiderbecke and His Gang, 1927

[eliyaguy]

So modest of you to say the "even today" etc. -- with today's communication systems, within a few years Bix will become as popular as Mozart... And thank YOU for your contribution.

[mojoman4147]

@eliyaguy It's a pleasure!

[Klaasklinkert]

Awsome number! One of the best bass sax solos in jazz!

[gerrypepper]

pure genious beautiful recording

[KawhackitaRag]

This is a great recording, but I'm suprised that with all the views and comments this video has gotten, no one has commented upon Frank Signorelli's nice piano solo from 1:56 to 2:14. It is really nice! Oh wait, GVZGQosqoruna said: "the solo piano in its brevity is simply exquisite." Well, I agree!

[plappolog]

love you beider...

[GeminiNightOwl]

I often wonder the same - how much more he would have contributed to jazz and to the legend - we can only wonder...I would have loved to see him play live and meet him backstage...

[GeminiNightOwl]

I agree - THE BEST! I'm Bix addicted :)

[slowdream101]

He is the BEST

[GVZGQosqoruna]

A MASTERPIECE OF ALL MUSIC BEYOND JAZZ, Bix is a Titan, but not alone, Murray´s clarinet delightfully flies without being noticed, without a moment overshadow the band not even on its solo, (balance almost Bach style).Adrian´s saxophone and Bill´s trombone are pure swing, a powerfull feeling of great music, yet fun, the rhythm section is a luxury, and the solo piano in its brevity is simply exquisite. 3 minutes full of genius, they all complement each other perfectly. GREAT LESSON, THANKS BIX !

[xBcvazx]

great stuff!

it made the 20s roar.

Only thing better would be some hot 20s music on a Seeburg KT!

[InBy9OutBy5]

Thanks for sharing !

[kilar8]

parov stelar sampled this in "the phantom (1930 version)

[Abriggs500]

So is it true Bix couldn't read music but played by ear?

[mojoman4147]

@Abriggs500 very true. In 1924 when Bix had a tryout with the Jean Goldkette Orchestra, Goldkette fired him because he couldn't read sheet music, only to allow Bix back 3 years later. Whenever he rehearsed peices, he had to be walked through it by other musicians, but then he could play it back by ear

[phddddd]

@Abriggs500 Not uncommon in musical genius. Although he went on to read, write, play, and compose masterpieces, Mrs. Mozart knew she had a son that was something special when, after taking him to his first opera, he played back on the piano for her amusement the melody note-for-note for the entire opera. Her son was 5. Bix did something similar. His brother was trying to learn sax. Bix walked into his bro's room as he was practicing, picked up the sax, and began playing better than his brother.

[markonighthawk]

@Abriggs500 It's my understanding that Bix did indeed try to play by ear but found that using his lips produced a better sound.

Love this tune! Please join us at the FB Group 'Jazzed!' Just type it into the FB search bar.

[Co0orc]

@Abriggs500 yes, he learned himself by listening to the jazzbands who came from the south upon riverboats over the Missisipi. He started playing the trompet using it all wrong what resulted in that later on he could play the hard parts easily.

[Klaasklinkert]

Let's not forget the great Adrian Rollini playing the bass saxophone!

[Mrspraderadego]

What are the harmony of this piece?

I hear Gminor, after a F7 a Bb7 and after? Someone know the detail harmony? thanks, or better a sheet music tostudy the harmony, i have sheet music of bix piano pieces to share, candlelight, in a myst, in the dark, Flashes...

Thank you

[wholzman2]

Bix had fun while he was here. Those party must have been killers. Bix was the man.

[stmaurmusic]

Wonderful!

[stmaurmusic]

Wonderful!

[jamesiswonderful]

You have to wonder how much more music Bix could have contributed to the jazz world. At 28 years old that was far too young to go. If he got over his illness in New York, my dad might have been able to meet his great uncle Bix as a young child. I am Bix's great great nephew and i am proud to be a part of the Beiderbecke family.

[mojoman4147]

@jamesiswonderful that's great! I hope you keep up the Beiderbecke name! Do you have any keepsakes, or do you play any instruments? :D

[mojoman4147]

@jamesiswonderful WOW! What great keepsakes and how lucky you are to have them! I hope you take good care of them, or donate them to a museum for history.

I must travel to Davenport one day and see the sights :)

[jamesiswonderful]

@mojoman4147 we do keep good care of them and we have donated letters and other things to museums.

[drummerlead]

@jamesiswonderful

Is your father's name CHRIS Beiderbecke? I am FB friends with him!

[Josephdorf03]

Love the pulsing bass line

[KawhackitaRag]

@Josephdorf03 yep, that's Adrian Rollini's bass saxophone. It's so cool, he was playing all these angular, syncopated bass lines decades before the electric bass guitar was even invented!

[Josephdorf03]

@KawhackitaRag love it! Thanks for the cool facts.

[colette10ful]

To understand America and Americans, one has to learn baseball and know jazz. All the other talented jazz musicians aside, Bix is the epitomy of raw and reckless talent that exempliefies what made this country great. Long may his music live on....

[srvgtr]

When Orson Welles described Jazz as the great art form of the 20th Century he must have had this recording in mind. Truly, this must be one of the great Jazz tunes ever recorded. Like all early Jazz the sense of pure enjoyment by the musicians is self-evident. It is from this beginning that the likes of Ellington, Armstrong, Reinhardt, Coltrane and Davis came.

[mojoman4147]

@srvgtr it's true! When you listen to Clarinet Marmalade they must have had terrific fun recording at such breakneck speeds.

[aerofredywr]

from 2:12 on,listen to Murray behind Bix, great cl playing.

[Neekatron]

surprised he didn't do it more up tempo like clarinet marmalade :D

[RoninAvenger]

Real Jazz

[TrompetteSpielen]

Great showcase for the artistry of Bix and Adrian Rollini! Thanks for the post.

[sailin1934]

i have searched my soul several times over and must confess that as much as i love louis i couldn't go on without a daily dose of bix and his buddys. of course i would need an inexhaustible supply of needles, but seriously, i hope never to have to make that choice,but it is something to think about.

[sailin1934]

put yourself in this position, you are marooned on a desert island, and the only physical posessions you can have are a wind up grammaphone and your choice of either 10 bix recordings OR 10 louis armstrong recordings, who would you honestly choose,? i hope i never have to make that decision, but, i know what my choice would be, how say you.

[EamonFKC]

@sailin1934 What a dilemma. Muskrat Ramble or At the Jazz Band Ball? Singin the Blues or West End Blues? I'm Coming Virginia or Potato Head Blues? Too traumatic. But I also think I know who I 'd choose.

[mojoman4147]

@sailin1934 hehe. Obviously it would be Bix recordings! Although unless I could make replacement thorn needles from a tree then I'd get quickly frustrated when my steel needle supply dries up! :D

[ionahoopii]

@sailin1934

It doesn't matter to me--Bix's music is permanently stamped in my brain. All of it.

[sailin1934]

who was the musically and mentally deficient moron who turned thumbs down on this masterpiece?

[wholzman2]

Bix was the man. What a character! The Whiteman days were really exciting for they would play for people like Marion Davies,and Bix thought they were all snobs.She didn't want the band members drinking. When they were done playing Bix and the band showed them what serious hard drinking was all about.

[theelmalouisetexas]

I REALLY LOVE THIS !!!!!!

watch the biederbeck trilogy its really good

[djoutrage18]

what really gets to me is those were released on gennett wern't they? so correct me if i'm wrong but sony wasn't even being thought of when gennett released those records, who gave them the rite to say who can do what with 85 year old recordings anyway? lol

[mojoman4147]

@djoutrage18 all the wolverines tracks were released on Gennett, yes. What often happens is music companies amalgamate, and when they take over the smaller companies like Columbia was by EMI, they very often get the back catalogs too :(

[jhb134]

@djoutrage18 - There were certain, rare tracks of Bix ... released on the old Milestone LP series, before. .... The French arm of RCA had a series of Bix, Volumes 1-thru-5, produced in the 1970s. ... Anyhoo, it's great to listen-to Bix, doing BETTER than the other musicians, in so many of his, few recordings. He could hardly, ever, produce a note that was false or superfluous ... and his SWING-sense, and sense of structure of a solo, in the early days of jazz, was/is very-remarkable, always!

[perkop1]

@djoutrage18 Thanks



[mooncalfwilliams]

@djoutrage18 Bix and his Gang sides were released on Okeh. They were electrical recordings. The Wolverines were on Gennett, acoustical recordings.

[mojoman4147]

@mooncalfwilliams I'm glad they were electrical recordings too! Imagine if Bix's developed playing would've sounded as dull as the 1927 accoustic "There Ain't No Land Like Dixieland". It would be awful :(

[djoutrage18]

i think sony nicked the wolvereens stuff

they clame everything, bastards lol

what an amazing record this is, always thought that was tram on bass sax but obviously not, was there an instrument rolini didn't play?

[mojoman4147]

@djoutrage18 Sony are awful for that. I usually get around it by posting two songs back to back, but I often get copyright notices for ridiculous things :(

[76trombones007]

Wow, do they swing!! What a great recording. Thanks for putting it on

[Petunia7xx]

One of my favorite tunes by one of my 2 of my favorite musicians: Bix & Adrian.

[valentintre]

suonare la tromba come beiderbecke è uno dei miei 10 desideri..leggere il profilo...

[cwarchc]

I have to agree with catboatwilly

your foot needs to be tapping

Check now

[dfs1974]

I ask this as someone unfamiliar with jazz. What is the high pitched "ditty ditty" instrument throughout? Is that Bix?

[mojoman4147]

@dfs1974 that is the sound of Don Murray - the clarinetist. Early jazz and particularly dixieland style was characterised by a wild and high pitched clarinet playing :)

[KnightOwl2006]

Wonderful.

[Catboatwilly]

If your foot isn't tapping after this, check your pulse ~ you may be dead ! Thanks for posting with great audio. Is that Adrian on Bass Sax ??

[mojoman4147]

@Catboatwilly it is indeed!

[stcyrist]

@mojoman4147 Dancin' out both my shoes !! Yep, bass sax Adrian Rollini.

[callipygicus]

@Catboatwilly Bix, Bill Rank, Don Murray, Adrian Rollini, Frank Signorelli, Howdy Quicksell, Chauncey Moorhouse.

October 5, 1927.

[callipygicus]

@Catboatwilly

Bix, Bill Rank, Don Murray, Adrian Rollini, Frank Signorelli, Howdy Quicksell, Chauncey Moorhouse.

October 5, 1927.

[aerofredywr]

@Catboatwilly You´r rite, but it seems there is as least one dead (or deaf) who voted aginst.

[aerofredywr]

@Catboatwilly : I agree, but it looks like there is at least one dead (or deaf) person that voted negative.

[bengunski]

@Catboatwilly Well im 18, I listen to angry metal and my foot was going in the first few seconds!

[mimet111]

Great music will certainly ALWAYS outlast what youngsters are trying to play and sing thanks to men like Bix, Armstrong, Goodman, Skeeter Best. I could go on and on, but get my drift!

[mojoman4147]

@mimet111 Absolutely. This is THE definitive version of At The Jazz Band Ball in my opinion - no other recording even comes close!

[TheDrkKnght1988]

WOOO-HOOOO!!!! I LOVE THAT SONG!! Dixieland forever!! Dixieland ruled my world!

[Bladman99]

Had this tune on a knackered cassette from a viny (I think) my dad had. Cassette long since kaput, bless ya for making this available for me to find!

[chee6060]

everyone should hear Ferko Stringband play this. They do it real justice.

[bobinobaker]

No tooth , no musik....... :-)

[daconsti]

its a good example for chicago jazz

[browningpgc]

Marvelous recording. Bix lives! Thaks for sharing..

Zazoo in Oklahoma

[IntuitSpirit]

Thanks for posting!

SO good to hear REAL music!

Bix was BRILLIANT!

Right up there with Satchmo!

[stcyrist]

@IntuitSpirit

Mind you : Louis was Bix' mentor and you hear it.

[IntuitSpirit]

@stcyrist

That's right.

Frank Trumbauer was also his mentor.

[MsBarking]

Bix is THE BEST

[tallswede68]

@MsBarking

Yes, he is the best. Armstrong is over rated.

[Hoosiercorporal]

@tallswede68 I must reluctantly agree with you about Louis Armstrong. I remember hearing him play on TV shows in the 1950s when I was a kid, who knew NOTHING about jazz. But I can still remember thinking, "What's all the fuss about? Yeah, he's a good player, but sure not the best I ever heard." By the way, in Jean Pierre Lion's excellent book, "Bix -- The Definitive Biography of a Jazz Legend," Armstrong's own autobiography is quoted , fulsomely praising Bix. They were good friends.

[mojoman4147]

@Hoosiercorporal I agree too. Louis and Bix were good friends, I believe they made recordings for Okeh on the same day in the same building too! I wish they would have recorded together :(

[Hoosiercorporal]

@mojoman4147 In Jean Pierre Lion's book that I mentioned above, Armstrong is quoted, either from an interview or his autobiography, as telling about an after-hours jam session he once took part in with the (all-black) band he was playing with; Bix; and three other members of the (all-white) band Bix was playing with at that time. Can you imagine what a recording of that session would be worth, if one existed? Unfortunately, it doesn't.

[jhb134]

@Hoosiercorporal - Yes, Bix and Louis A knew about each-other, in their playing, in those very-early days of jazz. Louis was one of the GREATest of all jazzmen, and his recordings before 1950, SHOW what he was about. You could also investigate one of Gunther Schuller's books - Early Jazz/Oxford Press - to know-BETTER about how singular, that Louis's ways were, to develop the jazz improv.

[florianaporta]

ottimo jazz!!!!! 5 stelle!

[iKzEmFAKK]

may be i make a hip hop instrumental from this :D i love it!

[mojoman4147]

Bix lives!

[happytalk94]

the ear is most important. if it does not sound good the ear will let you know.likewise if it is good your mind will come into play and seek more.Bix sends a message which the ears pick up. your mind gets prompted to think. hey this guy is good lets have more.you listen further you make comparisons, hey presto you become a BixBeider fan. there are many bands out there, good and awful.you listen to the best when the ear (which is the judge) says I'm Bix Playing For You're listening pleasure.tryme

[alontas]

This is one of the first tunes I heard by this great jazzist. it's a pity that nowadays few Jazzmen know him. Especially here in Venezuela where I live and been doin' Jazz since the mid seventies. Then there were at least four or five persons who knew about him. Today:  ¡ None ! I have as a mission to preach the Bix Gospel. By know, only ten have heard the Good Cornet Sound, and most have liked it. That´s a promise.

[swinginkatz]

Great, I will have some coming, also.

[valvetrom]

For a new Bass sax design see and hear

Benedikt Eppelsheim.

[colomacks]

WOW! Bix i great and I really love Adrian Rollini on the bass sax... it really adds to the feel of the piece!! John Mack

[aerofredywr]

@colomacks  Absolutely.

[valvetrom]

Man the music gives me still the goosbumps,Basssax and all. but its the fire, they put in,the sophistication.

[stk38349]

Did you know that Adrian Rollini played bass saxophone on this record.

Also the bass saxophone was the ONLY bass instrument that could be recorded onto a record, if it was another instrument the record would skip. This is what made the bass saxophone so ideal for recordings.

In Europe they play without the bass drum because of this interference, and they still play some songs that way til today.

[stk38349]

would anyone happen to have the score to this song? Thanks

[stk38349]

I also posted a video of another version of this song, hope no one minds. The jazz era is far from ending, and neither is dixieland nor ragtime. I'm thinking once people are tired of this "Rap Crap" they will want to hear more structured music with an ACTUAL RYTHM

[valvetrom]

Could help with chords, learn the melody from the recording, doesn't have to be precisely.

The chords are the DNA

[AAErikCO]

HOT playing. Great stuff. This is one of my favorite songs by Bix. This type of playing reinforces what I see in my mind as the 20's.

Bix will be remembered through listeners forever, no matter how short and tragic his life.

Thanks for posting!

Erik

[mojoman4147]

Thanks!

I have recently bought a 1929 Columbia wind up phonograph, rest assured this song will be recorded and uploaded soon enough :)

[poindexterqueef]

Someday, a proper deluxe retrospective collection of Bix's musical works will come about! It has to. It needs to!

[mojoman4147]

I think John R.T Davies remastered every side Bix appears on, but when I looked into buying the CD's they were £40 or £50 unfortunately :(

[trabanul]

Believe it or nor, this was at the top of the charts in Argentina in 1956. 78's were still sold and it was very popular at dance parties. Thanks for posting such a noise clean version.

[mojoman4147]

And I thought hot jazz died with the swing era. Good to hear it survived in places :D

[trabanul]

Lalo Schifrin wrote "A RHAPSODY FOR BIX". It was performed at the

The Mark; Moline, Illinois: October 12, 1996 with

James Morrison, Manny Lopez (tp); Dave Carpenter (b); Louie Bellson (d); Lalo Schifrin (comp,cond) with the Quad Cities Symphony Orchestra. It was commissioned by the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Society

[MartyThuman]

What great music! Thank you for posting!

[CptGatsby]

I love Adrian Rollini--the bass sax is always a majestic presence in his hands! (It's a shame Min Leibrook's playing was so pedestrian, ha ha...)

[GeminiNightOwl]

Bix's music seems to transport me back to that time I wish I had lived in. Phenomenal and one of a kind. A legend that left us too young.

[phddddd]

Mojoman, thank you ever so much for posting the Bell. Remember what that headmistresses of an all-girl said to the band leader that asked her if a nice young man from Davenport could join in and play with his band. "Well," said the headmistress later, "that nice young man of yours has gotten my girls all excited."

[mojoman4147]

It's no problem at all

[carrikp]

brilliant - thanks

but why is the Wolverines stuff blocked?

[mojoman4147]

I tried it and I a company claimed copyright on it :(

[carrikp]

Shame!

[bluerailroad]

The swingin'est trumpet player ever. I love Louis, but Bix just gets me up out of my chair.

[jamh2o]

Technically, he's the swingin'est coronet player ever. ITA

[jamie69696]

can one help me to find old jazz or new jazz , im new to jazz and i like this a lot but i don't know where to look lol

[charterbooks]

It's everywhere, man. If you like Bix, try Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Muggsy Spanier, Jack Teagarden, Erroll Garner, Fats Waller. All types

[MartaBtrp]

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeee

:)

[metacommie]

Beautiful...just beautiful.  Nice to see posts that ain't full of cussing and profanity too.

[mojoman4147]

It's because Jazz fans are more refined :)

But I would delete any swearing on here, its just not needed or nice really

[whd2002]

Buy it all, man. Put in a couple of extra hours overtime. You'll be listening to a piece that seems to be boring, and, what do you know, a week later it'll be your favorite f ro a month.  And maybe it won't be because of Bix. Maybe Tram. Maybe someone else. Might also pick up Ken Burn's Jazz documentary and go to that section. Sad life, great art. And it might send you backi to

Armstrong's West End Blues....good luck

[rob1927blues]

I've only recently discovered Bix Biederbeckes music and am totally blown away by it! I love the delta blues and am opening my ears to jazz now could any one give any advice on what music to buy by Bix Beiderbecke? Is there a 'complete recordings' out there? How much stuff did he record? Any advice would be appreciated, this stuff is truly fantastic.

[Shadowlily21]

i'm in the same boat as you .. my advise is to go on wikipedia and type in 'Jazz' and read about the early stuff. . Then highlight some early names (such as Bix) and learn about them . then come to YouTube, find them on hear, and hear it live . . wiki's not always scripture but it's close to give an idea. . i've learned so much that way .

[covenofhotvampchicks]

where did you get the first image of Bix ?---I cant remember seeing it before and its great --Doug Lapasta --producer of "Celebrating Bix " cd -- ps--check out my channel -ivydivypres ---will feature randy sandke etc

[mojoman4147]

To be brutally honest I just googled it :)

[blattspitze]

I love his music!

A german writer, Ror Wolf, wrote a famous radio story about Bix` tragic life. It won several prices. He imported some of his solos. It`s called "Leben und Sterben des Kornettisten Bix Beiderbecke in Nordamerika"

[mojoman4147]

If I understood German I would listen to this :)

[lt059]

Is "I'm Coming Virginia" among the selections in your inventory?

[sediagus]

Genial.

Por cierto, que este tema sale en "Bullets over Broadway" de Woody Allen.

[aarajula]

Really fantastic! I think you should go thru the whole Bix catalogue. I am subbing already. Love it ALL. PS Any chance of you doing "Sorry"? Hope so. In these days of uncertainty and uproar, it is super to have a long, cool draught of the classic... and classical... Bix. Keep up the great work!! Five stars at least!

[mojoman4147]

I've tried to upload his work by the Wolverines, but someone has claimed copyright (somehow :@)

[aarajula]

Hi Mojoman! You might try under The New Yorkers, with Adrian Rollini as front man, or issued under Frankie Trumbauer and Orchestra -- In the spirit of Yankee ingenuity, several names for the same recording session! Anyway, thanks for your great collection.

[stk38349]

you wouldn't happen to have the sheet music for this, would you?

[larafox66]

Bix forever! He is and will always be one of my all time favourite musicians! I never get tired of his magical cornet obsession!

thank you for the wonderful video!