Tribute to a jazz hero

This 2-CD set is a homage to a (often forgotten) legend and key figure in jazz. Besides Louis Armstrong, American jazz cornetist and pianist Leon Bismark 'Bix' Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s. With his unusual purity of tone and a gift for improvisation, he helped to invent the jazz ballad style and hinted at what, in the 1950s, would become Cool jazz.

Our perceptions of major figures in music from previous epochs tend to change over the course of time. There may indeed be something of a paradox here, because the innovators of the past are often only truly recognized and appreciated by later generations. The more energetically and decisively a pioneer has broken with the past, the more he (or she) will have been mistrusted and cast aside in their life-times, and the more is required from the rear-view mirror of posterity before they can start to be treated with respect, let alone with honor.In the case of Bix Beiderbecke, however, we have a happy exception to this general rule. His particular combination of an immensely likeable character with a jaw-dropping talent was enough to ensure that doors would open for him.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

• Ol' Man River
• At the Jazz Band Ball
• Everything That Was
• I'm Coming Virginia
• Thou Swell
• (Tango) in the Dark
• At Children's Corner
• Happy Feet
• I'll Be a Friend with Pleasure
• Nix Like Bix
• Singin' the Blues
• The Boy from Davenport
• Jazz Me Blues
• Ol' Man River

Additional Details

Label: Act Music

Genre: Jazz

Run Time: 56 mins

Release Date: 10/14/16

UPC: 614427982629