Essay about Bix Beiderbecke

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BIX BEIDERBECKE The virtuoso Leon Bix Beiderbecke was born in 1903 and died young in 1931. Though his life was short, Bix’s legacy was long-live. He was raised in Davenport, Iowa, by his mother Agatha and father Bismark. He was the youngest of the German middle class family, his father owned a lumber & coal company in east davenport while his mother was a pianist. As a boy, Bix Beiderbecke had a few piano lessons, but he was self-taught on cornet and developed an unorthodox technique by playing. He was blessed with the gift of a musical ear which helped him greatly throughout his career because he was not able to read music very well. Growing up Bix found his passion, which was to become a musician, it seemed that he would not let …show more content…
Miles Davis is also known to have tried to find people that played with bix Beiderbecke. Beiderbecke's influence can be heard in the trumpeter styles of Red Nichols, Bunny Berigan, and Rex Stewart.

Years of bootleg liquor and hard years on the road put him in state of poor health, which was the other thing Beiderbecke was known for. In a profession where hard drinking was routine his alcohol consumption was legendary, and he soon descended into alcoholism. When he couldn't get corn-mash whisky or gin, he would apparently drink pure alcohol mixed with lemon drops; he started drinking in the early morning and didn't stop till he passed out at night. Weakened by his excesses, Beiderbecke began to have to take time off from playing with Whiteman - though the bandleader kept a place for him and continued to pay him, a testament to his brilliant musicianship. Beiderbecke suffered several breakdowns and bouts of pneumonia, one of which finally killed him, aged only 28.
Although he was largely unknown to the general public at the time of his death, he acquired an almost legendary aura among jazz musicians and enthusiasts. He still having a impact on today’s world, Davenport holds an annual Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival where people come to remember and hear his music. Bix Biederbecke was one of the most influential musicians of his time. He will always be remembered for the way he
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