Music
Bix Beiderbecke
1903–1931 · jazz cornetist, pianist, composer
Legendary 1920s cornetist who played in Jean Goldkette's Detroit-based orchestra, headlining at the Graystone Ballroom in 1926–1927 before his greatest recordings.
- Born
Davenport, Iowa- Died
Queens, New York City
aged 28- Birth name
- Leon Bismark Beiderbecke
- Also known as
- Bix
- Detroit years
- 1924, 1926–1927
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Beiderbecke, a self-taught cornetist from Iowa, first recorded with the Wolverines in 1924 and that autumn left them to join Jean Goldkette's orchestra in Detroit. The first stint was short, because he struggled to read the band's arrangements, and Goldkette's organization sent him with saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer to its Arcadia Ballroom in St. Louis. In spring 1926 Bix and Trumbauer joined Goldkette's main band, dividing the year between a summer resort on Lake Hudson in Indiana and headlining at the Graystone Ballroom on Detroit's Woodward Avenue. With arranger Bill Challis, the Dorsey brothers, Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang, it was hailed by rivals as the best dance orchestra in the country, and in October 1926 it played opposite Fletcher Henderson at New York's Roseland. The band folded in September 1927, and Bix moved on to Paul Whiteman, but the Detroit year produced the bond with Trumbauer behind "Singin' the Blues" and "In a Mist." He died in 1931, aged 28.
Highlights
- Joined Jean Goldkette's orchestra in Detroit in 1924 and again in 1926
- Headlined at the Graystone Ballroom in 1926–1927
- Recorded "Singin' the Blues" and "In a Mist" in 1927
- One of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Performed here · 1926–1927
Graystone Ballroom
Demolished · 1922–1972
Goldkette's Woodward Avenue ballroom, where Bix headlined with the Goldkette orchestra in 1926–1927.