WKCR is very excited to announce the return of a beloved birthday broadcast in honor of one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s: cornetist, pianist, and composer Bix Beiderbecke.
Bix embodied the spirit of the Jazz Age with his pure style, gift for improvisation, and inventive compositions.
Bix was born Leon Bismarck Beiderbecke in Davenport, Iowa, on March 10, 1903. He began playing piano when he was only two or three years old––even before he could comfortably reach the instrument. By the age of seven, he could recreate on the piano almost any tune he heard. As a teenager, Bix taught himself to play cornet by listening to the Original Dixieland Jazz Band on his brother’s Victrola phonograph.
When his parents sent him to Lake Forest Academy to focus on academics, they unwittingly set him up to become a jazz legend: Lake Forest Academy was near Chicago, the jazz capital of America. In Chicago, Bix listened to the New Orleans Rhythm Kings and King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band (which featured Louis Armstrong on second cornet).
After being expelled from the Academy for sneaking out, Bix began playing as a professional musician. In 1923, he joined the Wolverines, a seven-person hot jazz group that took its name from Jelly Roll Morton’s “Wolverine Blues.” A year later, Bix played with Jean Goldkette and His Orchestra. In 1927, he joined the Paul Whiteman Orchestra––the most popular band at the time. Bix played on the band’s hit records: “Together,” “Ramona,” and “Ol’ Man River” featuring Bing Crosby on vocals. The band’s arranger, Bill Challis, wrote arrangements specifically to highlight Bix’s improvisational skills.
Bix passed away tragically in 1931, following a long battle with alcoholism. In his obituary, read “"Bixie" was a symbol of that jazz generation, expressing its wistful, restless temperament through the medium of the unconventional dance music which constitutes its theme song.…[Bix], in the eyes of thousands of young Americans, was a master of his art.”
Bix is remembered as one of the most important innovators in jazz, as well as one of the most important cornetists in jazz (along with Louis Armstrong). Critic Terry Teachout says that Bix and Louis are “the two most influential figures in the early history of jazz” and “the twin lines of descent from which most of today's jazz can be traced.”
And here at WKCR, Bix lives! WKCR will celebrate Bix’s birthday with an all-day broadcast. This special broadcast is one of our oldest traditions: at the suggestion of the late Phil Schaap, WKCR has been celebrating Bix’s birthday for over 50 years. This weekend is particularly special, as our all-day Bix birthday broadcast is––in keeping with tradition––back-to-back with our all-day Ornette Coleman birthday broadcast (March 9).
Listeners can tune in on 89.9FM or stream it live on our website, wkcr.org. Follow WKCR on Instagram (@wkcr) and Twitter (@WKCRFM) for updates about this special broadcast and future events. Online listening is available 24/7 at wkcr.org via our web stream.
