Search - Bix Beiderbecke :: Jazz Me Blues

Great Compilation of Bix Recordings

Tom Moran | New York, NY United States | 01/29/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Bix Beiderbecke was arguably the greatest white jazz musician of the 1920s, and was to a generation of jazz buffs what James Dean was to movie fans of the 1950s. Bix lived fast, died young (at 28), and left us with a beautiful body of work, most of the best of which is collected on this CD.There are lots of Bix Beiderbecke anthologies on compact disc, but this one might be the best one to start out with. As a one-disc compilation of the best of Bix, this CD is about as good as it gets. Start out with Singin' the Blues, arguably the best example of Bix's uniquely lyrical tone on the Bb cornet, a tone that reminded Eddie Condon of "a girl saying yes." Then go to At the Jazz Band Ball, that showcases Bix in his rip 'em up mode. If you're not hooked on Bix by the end of those two tracks, forget it. You're hopeless.If you respond to what you hear, then you might want to go on to further Bix CD purchases (I like Columbia/Sony's two-disc set, which contains more esoteric tracks than you'll find here). But this is probably the best starter kit for the Bix initiate. If you're just discovering the legacy of Bix Beiderbecke, I envy you. You've got a lot of pleasure in store."