The Vintage Music Blog: Cornet

Showing posts with label Cornet. Show all posts

Friday, July 24, 2026

Bix Beiderbecke – The Art Of Bix Beiderbecke (vintage jazz)

Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke (March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931) was an American jazz cornetist, pianist and composer. Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s, a cornet player noted for an inventive lyrical approach and purity of tone, with such clarity of sound that one contemporary famously described it like "shooting bullets at a bell”.

His solos on seminal recordings such as "Singin' the Blues" and "I'm Coming, Virginia" (both 1927) demonstrate a gift for extended improvisation that heralded the jazz ballad style, in which jazz solos are an integral part of the composition. Moreover, his use of extended chords and an ability to improvise freely along harmonic as well as melodic lines are echoed in post-WWII developments in jazz. "In a Mist" (1927) is the best known of Beiderbecke's published piano compositions and the only one that he recorded. His piano style reflects both jazz and classical (mainly impressionist) influences. All five of his piano compositions were published by Robbins Music during his lifetime.

1-1 Singin' The Blues 3:00

1-2 Trumbology 3:00

1-3 Clarinet Marmalade 3:13

1-4 Riverboat Shuffle 3:14

1-5 I'm Coming Virginia 3:13

1-6 Way Down Yonder In New Orleans 2:54

1-7 Fidgety Feet 2:26

1-8 Jazz Me Blues 2:47

1-9 Copenhagen 2:30

1-10 Sensation 2:40

1-11 I'm Glad 3:12

1-12 Toddlin' Blues 2:45

1-13 Davenport Blues 2:50

1-14 In A Mist 2:44

1-15 For No Reason At All In C 3:05

1-16 Wringin' And Twistin' 2:59

1-17 Three Blind Mice 3:06

1-18 Humpty Dumpty 3:05

1-19 Krazy Kat 3:04

1-20 The Baltimore 3:05

2-1 At The Jazz Band Ball 2:58

2-2 Royal Garden Blues 3:08

2-3 Jazz Me Blues 3:10

2-4 Goose Pimples 3:20

2-5 Sorry 2:58

2-6 Clementine (From New Orleans) 3:02

2-7 Changes 2:50

2-8 There Ain't No Sweet Man That's Worth The Salt Of My Tears 3:34

2-9 Lonely Melody 2:57

2-10 You Took Advantage Of Me 2:56

2-11 Rockin' Chair 3:27

2-12 Barnacle Bill The Sailor 2:49

2-13 Mississippi Mud 3:13

2-14 The Japanese Sandman 3:24

2-15 Cryin' All Day 3:08

2-16 A Good Man Is Hard To Find 3:06

2-17 Since My Best Gal Turned Me Down 3:09

2-18 Somebody Stole My Gal 3:00

2-19 Rhythm King 3:25

2-20 Ol' Man River 3:07

The Art Of Bix Beiderbecke

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Rhythm of the Day...Red Nichols and His Five Pennies

Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols (May 8, 1905 – June 28, 1965) was an American jazz cornettist, composer, and jazz bandleader.

Over his long career, Nichols recorded in a wide variety of musical styles, and critic Steve Leggett describes him as "an expert cornet player, a solid improviser, and apparently a workaholic, since he is rumored to have appeared on over 4,000 recordings during the 1920's alone."

Nichols had good technique, could read music, and easily got session and studio work. In 1926 he and Miff Mole began a prodigious stint of recording with a variety of bands, most of them known as "Red Nichols and His Five Pennies". Very few of these groups were actually quintets; the name was simply a pun on "Nickel", since there were "five pennies" in a nickel. "That was only a number we tied in with my name", Nichols once explained. "We'd generally have eight or nine [musicians], depending on who was around for the session and what I was trying to do."

Nichols recorded over 100 sides for the Brunswick label under that band name. He also recorded under a number of other names, among them, The Arkansas Travelers, The California Red Heads, The Louisiana Rhythm Kings, The Charleston Chasers, Red and Miff’s Stompers, and Miff Mole and His Little Molers. Some weeks, Nichols and his bands were making 10–12 records a week.

His recordings of the late 1920's are regarded as the most progressive jazz of the period in both concept and execution, with widely-ranging harmonies and a balanced ensemble.