Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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rVGEND OF BIX Reiderbeck By BOB GROSSE Muswe Analyst (Editor's Note: This is the last of two articles on the unusual oarer of Bix Biederbecke.) Late in 1924, after traveling around with The Wolverines for several years, Bix 13iederbeeke, the young man front Davenport, Iowa, received a bid from the Gene Goldkette organization, packed his bags, and headed East. Once in New York, the Bieder. becke reputation as well as the Biederbecke legand began to mushroom. He worked with the Goldkette band till midnight and then played his heart out until morning in impromptu speak easy jam sessions. Bix recorded a great deal also; in his first 18 months in New York, he had 30 recording sessions and cut. over 60 dises. Magic and Music , Bix had plenty of company in those days for New York seemed La.I E C C-,. C3 - C-, U Burns 0 to be filled with bright-eyed youngsters with magic in their fingertips ansd music in their hearts. 'To pame a few, there were Joe Venuti, Dave Tough, Frank "Tram" Techmacher, Pee Wee Russell, Gene Krupa, Glenn Miller, Jimmy and Tommy Dor sey, and Benny Goodman, all fresh from the Pennsylvania coal fields or the back streets of Chicago, ready to make their mark on the jazz world. By 1928, Bix was at his peak. He had moved over to the Paul Whiteman band, then the top band of the country, and was billed as "The Golden Boy" and "The Young Man With a Horn." He was the star that the colleg ians and their flappers drove 60 miles to hear, the one who got all the attention from the crowds, and the man who the out-of-town musicians skipped jobs to come and hear. Bix was at the top of the jazz heap and having a gay, wild time of it, living for days on nothing but scrambled eggs, . -LZ U E E E- 8 2L 00 cc ~ . C1. 3 IEI 0C it; Jazz Age bad liquor, and his Insatiable love for music. Bix just had to play! 1929 Plunge Inevitably, the end came for Bix just as it came for the whole roaring Jazz Age with the 1929 Plunge. The years of traveling, the hundreds of all-night sessions, and the prodigious quantities of bathtub gin were beginning to tell. He had a nervous break down early in 1930 and had to go back to Davenport to rest. In 1931, Bix returned to join the rising Casa Loma Orchestra, one of the first of the great white swing hands; Bix, the self-taught musician, was always a notor iously poor reader and the pre cise arrangements of the Casa Loma band left him worn and nervous. le rented a dingy Jack son Heights apartment and stayed there, playing only occas ional jobs around town. Burned Out During the summer of 1931, he played a series of dances at LU U.. U. CS LJ LLI U_. Ui . LUi Crumbles Princeton and, somewhere along the way, picked up a cold which he couldn't shake off. The "cold" turned out to b46 pneumonia, and on August 7, 1931, Bix died burned out at the age of 28. What keeps the Beiderbecke legend alive? The answer Is a complex one at best. Partially it is that Bix was a symbol of his entire age, as much a part of the Roaring Twenties as raccoon coats, the Stutz Bearcat, "Twenty-Three, Skidool", and the Charleston. Partially it is due to fix's amazing technical skill and musicianship. He played with a warm, living tone made of pure gold, his solos were quiet and reserved but had all the force of a giant pounding cement with a stainless steel hammer, and his technique was faultless, never a smear or fuzzy note. Or perhaps it was Bix's per sonal character, always reserved, almost shy, with an irresistible boyish charm that won hii6 hun dreds of friends and thousands Cil 55 E. LA. as a, LA_. LJ C! TORRE TO PLAY Tri Delta Tonight the Delta, Delta, Delta social sorority will entertain at its biennial formal from 9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. in the Colum bia Hotel Ballroom. Music will be furnished by Tony Torre and his orchestra. A red and- white Valentine motif is to be used. All Tri Delta alumnae are invited' of fans throughout the country. However, the Beiderbecke leg end goes beyond the F. Scott Fitz gerald setting, the remarkable skill, immaculate tone, and per sonal magnetism to something even more important. Bix was a true artist and, as such, he was a perfectionist. He was always striving, always searching for his own personal means of expres sion, perhaps even a new type of music. But without a sound the oretical background, even unable to read music, Bix was handi capped and was never able to put on paper all of the music that filled his mind. 0-0 to - o 4 0.. 0 EO 4- ) * .2-0 0 0 0 W~~ i:a a * > (A 0 _X (U cc) W~ d)~ Formal F to attend the dane. Tr Delta officers are Ann Luce, president; Alice Clarke, vice-president; May Luce, treas TRI DELTA OFFICERS . . . Pi the Delta Delta Delta officers: Clarke, vice-president; May Luce, cording secretary; Louise Taylor, L ise Verner, social chairman. Toni biennial formal from 9 to 1 in thme TASS STEAK~ NTK YOU uY m W. VMt49 MCMMY $ SmCM aIasu Ka Tonight urer; Augusta Mason, recording secretary; Louise Taylor, corres ponding secretary; and Lise Ver ner, social chairman. lui-ed above (left to right) are Ann L uce, president, Alice treasurer; Augusta Mason, re correslponIding accretary; and ght the Tri Delts will hold their Columbia lHotel Ballroom. kKS * AN .r0