Around the time we left off last time, the central hub of jazz started moving north to Chicago. A lot of jobs were opening up in the north as WWI took a lot of working men. Blacks filled the gap and many of those who moved were musicians looking for a society with a less racist mindset.
One of the first great coronet players to come out of Chicago was Bix Biederbecke (born 1903). Originally from Davenport, Iowa, Bix moved to the area to attend Lake Forest College in Lake Forest, IL on the north side of Chicago. Early in his life Bix showed talent as a coronet player, but his parents were highly against it. Sending him to Lake Forest College was an attempt to get him away from music, but it severely backfired.
Being so close to the new hub of jazz, Bix went to every show he could get to. He'd always go to the south side to check out the jazz clubs and was enthralled with the music. Eventually, he was expelled for poor attendance.
Shortly after his expulsion he joined The Wolverines and toured IL, IN, and OH. His participation in this group brought him great fame. When he recorded Singin' The Blues, he solidified his position as the coronetist on the forefront.
Stylistically he was a unique individual. His improvised solos were very similar to Louis Armstrong except that harmonically he used the whole tone scale and the b9 often. No one else at the time was doing this and many were conflicted between awe or confusion of this strange harmony. He had a nice clear tone, despite his incorrect fingerings (an ailment of being self taught).
Throughout his career Bix would send records back to his family of all the groups he'd recorded with. On a visit back to his family in his early 20s, Bix found all of the records he'd sent in a closet still in their original wrappers. Bix was so heartbroken after this, he checked himself into a treatment center and never played again. He passed away from delirium tremors at the age of 28.
While he led a short life, he influenced many in the Chicago area as we'll see next time through the Austin High Gang.
What a sad story. Music is lovely, it's a shame his family never took the time to appreciate it. Or if they did, they waited too long.
Yeah. It makes me appreciative that my parents are paying for me to study music.
I should hope so, that's pretty remarkable. I was playing dive bars at 30 years old and my parents still never missed a show. They were definitely the new green's biggest fans.
That's fantastic. Can I give your parents a badge?
Ironically, they went to every show but getting them to visit Hubski is near impossible. Big generation gap there.