Indispensable Bix Beiderbecke (1925-1930)

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On this two-disc set of his recordings for RCA Victor, cornetist Bix Beiderbecke figures largely as a sideman in the orchestras of Jean Goldkette and Paul Whiteman. Despite that, this covers one of the most important chapters in American music in the 1920s, chronicling not only Beiderbecke's career, but also the gradual spread of jazz into the more popular bands of the day. Although he was primarily a classical pianist, Goldkette staffed his band with gifted jazz players, including saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer, clarinetist Jimmy Dorsey, trombonist Tommy Dorsey, violinist Joe Venuti, and guitarist Eddie Lang, as well as Beiderbecke.

The first track here comes from Beiderbecke's brief stay with Goldkette in 1924, a job that quickly ended over the cornetist's inability to read music. His second period with Goldkette began in 1926, and the band's jazz qualities are abundantly clear on tracks like "Proud of a Baby Like You" and "Clementine." When Goldkette's band was breaking up in 1927, Paul Whiteman hired the nucleus of the group, immediately acquiring some jazz credibility in the process. The first of Beiderbecke's appearances with Whiteman is on "Washboard Blues," written and sung by his friend Hoagy Carmichael, and it's with Carmichael's 1930 group that Beiderbecke makes his final appearances here, adding his horn to songs like "Rockin' Chair" and "Georgia on My Mind." There are also three tracks from 1930 under Beiderbecke's own leadership, and both the Carmichael and Beiderbecke tracks benefit from members of the same tight-knit group that had been with Goldkette four years earlier. --Stuart Broomer

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