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

76,000 views! WOW! This is proof that even today, Bix's unique style has many thousands of fans. Thanks for viewing!

Here is my first video, At the Jazz Band Ball by Bix Beiderbecke. Composed by LaRocca originally, Bix adds his touch of uniqueness to this rendition.

In many ways, Bix Beiderbecke symbolised the Jazz Age. Truly wonderful music, with a truly tragic underside of rotgut and drunkeness.

BIX BEIDERBECKE AND HIS GANG: Bix Beiderbecke, c / Bill Rank, tb / Don Murray, cl / Adrian Rollini, bsx / Frank
Signorelli, p / Chauncey Morehouse, d. New York, October 5, 1927.
EDIT: I have finally got my hands on just about any song Bix played on, so if you want it putting up, just ask! (So far, it appears only his Wolverines stuff is blocked) :)

Category:

Music

Tags:

• bix beiderbecke
• jazz
• 20s
• 1920s
• at the jazz band ball
• adrian rollini
• bill rank
• don murray
• frank signorelli

[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!

[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

[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

[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.

[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]

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

[gerrypepper]

pure genious beautiful recording

[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.

[Josephdorf03]

@KawhackitaRag love it! Thanks for the cool facts.

[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!

[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!

[plappolog]

love you beider...