Bix Beiderbecke was born on Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke (March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931) was an American jazz cornetist, jazz pianist, and composer. In 1971, on the fortieth anniversary of Beiderbecke's death, the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival was founded in Davenport, Iowa, to honor the musician. Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke (March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931) was an American jazz cornetist, pianist, and composer. “While the official cause of Beiderbecke’s death was lobar pneumonia, most historians agree that acute alcoholism was responsible for the decline in his physical and mental health in the last year or so of his life,” the jazz website says. Bix Beiderbecke American jazz musician. In 1971, on the 40th anniversary of Bix's death, a group of jazz musicians traveled from New Jersey to Davenport and played over Bix's grave. The historical Beiderbecke, meanwhile, is the subject of scholarly controversy regarding his true name, his sexual orientation, the cause of his death, and the importance of his contributions to jazz in relation to those of African-American players of the same period. AKA Leon Bix Beiderbecke. [13] However, mor… I wondered. Birth Chart of Bix Beiderbecke, Astrology Horoscope, Astro, Birthday, Pisces Horoscope of Celebrity. At least more or less. ". AKA Leon Bix Beiderbecke. He composed or played on recordings that are jazz classics and standards such as “ Davenport Blues “, “ In a Mist “, “ Copenhagen “, “ Riverboat Shuffle “, “ Singin’ the Blues “, and “ Georgia On My Mind “. Buy Now ($2,99) Bix Beiderbecke (1903-1931) was an American jazz cornetist, pianist, and composer. What Sandke thinks is that in Bix's final days, the musician was unlucky enough to have consumed alcohol that was tainted, possibly with methanol, such as wood alcohol, or some other substance. The official cause of death was lobar pneumonia and edema of the brain. Beiderbecke’s alcoholism ultimately took a toll on his musical ability and on his life. A native of Davenport, Iowa. The symptoms are those of someone who has been a victim of alcohol poisoning. That night, Sandke believes, Bix passed out onstage while performing with Paul Whiteman’s orchestra in the New Music Hall in Cleveland. Blum writes that while Prohibition went into effect on Jan. 1, 1920, people continued to drink and that by the mid-1920s, the Treasury Department, which oversaw alcohol enforcement, estimated that approximately 60 million gallons of industrial alcohol had been stolen annually by bootleggers to supply the nation’s drinkers. ", Despite Bix’s drinking, Sandke said, “He was able to really maintain this unbelievably high standard of performing all those years until that night.". It must have been something else, something more. In 1971, on the fortieth anniversary of Beiderbecke's death, the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival was founded in Davenport, Iowa, to honor the musician. I think it's clear that Beiderbecke was an addict. His kidneys and liver didn’t function properly, and he suffered from headaches, dizziness, blackouts, memory loss and had to use a cane to get around, all … Whatever the success of his subsequent treatment, it's fair to say that Beiderbecke's health never fully recovered, and when he caught pneumonia during the summer of 1931—pneumonia he may have been suffering from even while at Keeley—his immune system couldn't fight it off. That Bix drank alcohol heavily has never been a secret. It was possible because he was not imbibing the high-quality liquor available to us today. This is how they made their money, by taking advantage of people like Bix who needed the drink. Rock, pop and blues music has a long history of premature deaths of influential musicians. Location of death: Queens, NY. The critic and musician Digby Fairweather sums up Beiderbecke's musical legacy, arguing that "with Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke was the most striking of jazz's cornet (and of course, trumpet) fathers; a player who first captivated his 1920s generation and after his premature death, founded a dynasty of distinguished followers beginning with Jimmy McPartland and moving on … “He died, and it was related to his alcoholism.". “Some people managed to avoid being seriously affected.”. As a teenager he would sneak off to the banks of the Mississippi to listen to the bands play on the riverboats that would come up from the south. Prohibition did not stop people from drinking alcoholic beverages. Died: 6-Aug - 1931. Though his death certificate described the cause of death as pneumonia, and he was in seriously ill health, the circumstances immediately surrounding his death are still unclear. His body was shipped back to Davenport for burial. Was someone out to get Bix? Instead, he was most likely drinking alcohol that had been (legally) poisoned and, as we'll see, perhaps only partially (and illegally) un-poisoned. And yet nowhere does Spencer—an actual medical authority—suggest that Beiderbecke's symptoms were inconsistent with alcoholism. Bix Beiderbecke : biography March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931 With all the noise [of a New York pub] going on, I don’t know how they heard themselves, but they did. In 1974, Sudhalter and Evans published their biography, Bix: Man and Legend, which was nominated for a National Book Award. Died: 6-Aug - 1931. Instead, by the time Prohibition ended in 1933, Blum says in her essay, “the federal government poisoning program, by some estimates, had killed at least 10,000 people.”. Beiderbecke remains the subject of scholarly controversy regarding his true name, the cause of his death, and the importance of his contributions to jazz. Man and Legend, Dr. Haberski signed the New York City death records listing Bix Beiderbecke s death as being lobar pneumonia, with edema of the brain despite reproducing Bix s death certificate, which has lobar pneumonia as the sole cause of death and no Contributory Cause . Leon Bismark Beiderbecke was born March 10, 1903. “In that era, plenty of his contemporaries were hard drinkers, and they managed to avoid the kind of tragic end he had,” Sandke said of Bix. Did I miss something in my research? Beiderbecke was twenty-eight when he died and by nearly all accounts he was an alcoholic. For while the Beiderbecke sound is filled with joy--and it is hot and it is swinging--it often carries a subtle sadness. Denaturing alcohol was dangerous for the government to do under these circumstances, and it may have been bad policy and even constituted a public health crisis, but it was hardly a secret. It was also said that the cause of his death was Explore Bix Beiderbecke's biography, personal life, family and cause of death. He’s not in the studio not nearly as often as he had before then because of his physical problem. In a footnote he argues that Bix was not suffering from the DTs when he had his breakdown. Birth Chart of Bix Beiderbecke, Astrology Horoscope, Astro, Birthday, Pisces Horoscope of Celebrity. His compositions like "In a Mist" and "In the Dark" are very advanced for the time. Bix Beiderbecke was born on March 10, 1903, in Davenport, Iowa, the son of Bismark Herman and Agatha Jane (Hilton) Beiderbecke. Leon Bix Beiderbecke was born in Davenport, Iowa to a middle-class family. The following is a list of notable musicians, from various genres of music, that died of causes unrelated to old age, before the age of 60. More than 80 years after Leon "Bix" Beiderbecke died at the age of 28, a theory about the cornetist's controversial end argues Bix was the tragic victim of an anti-liquor campaign arranged by the federal government. Beiderbecke remains the subject of scholarly controversy regarding his true name, the cause of his death, and the importance of his contributions to jazz. The historical Beiderbecke, meanwhile, is the subject of scholarly controversy regarding his true name, his sexual orientation, the cause of his death, and the importance of his contributions to jazz in relation to those of African-American players of the same period. Whiteman called for a doctor and nurse and ordered Bix back to Davenport. Beiderbecke "jazz's Number One Saint," while Ralph Berton compared him to Jesus. Only Bix Beiderbecke, the great cornetist who drank himself to death in 1931 at the age of 28, suffered a sadder fate. Candlelights (A Modern Piano Solo) by Bix Beiderbecke for piano solo, 1930 Digital PDF score + Midi file . In late July or early August 1931, Beiderbecke took up residence at 43-30 46th Street, Sunnyside, Queens, New York City, where he went on his last drinking binge. I didn’t contribute anything, but I listened and learned […] I was now being influenced by these musicians, particularly horn men. You have permission to edit this article. Bix Beiderbecke. According to the front page article of the Davenport Democrat and Leader, a predecessor of the Quad-City Times, the cause of death was pneumonia. Bix Beiderbecke's last residence and place of death. Upload media Wikipedia: Name in native language: Bix Beiderbecke: Date of birth: 10 March 1903 Davenport: Date of death: 6 August 1931 Long Island: Manner of death: natural causes; Cause of death: pneumonia; Work period (start) 1924: Country of citizenship: United States of America; Educated at: Early Life. Bix was only 26 years old, but he was a changed man. Sandke, of course, is a wonderful horn player in the Beiderbecke style. He was 28. He had been in declining health since he had a reaction to alcohol the evening of Nov. 30, 1928, Sandke said. The government required that any alcohol manufactured for industrial purposes be denatured according to a certain formula. This space takes note of whatever it is I'm interested in at the moment. Leon B. Beiderbecke. Beiderbecke remains the subject of scholarly controversy regarding his full name, the cause of his death and the importance of his contributions to jazz. Bix Beiderbecke American jazz musician. Here is all you want to know, and more! One suspects part of the cause of Berigan’s present-day obscurity is that he was white. Bix Beiderbecke's last residence and place of death. The industrial alcohol, as Blum points out, often was stolen by bootleggers and “resold as drinkable spirits.”, What the government did was order the poisoning of industrial alcohols produced in the United States in the hopes it would scare people into giving up illicit drinking. It was not the government’s intent to kill anyone, Blum points out. In late July or early August 1931, Beiderbecke took up residence at 43-30 46th Street, Sunnyside, Queens, New York City, where he went on his last drinking binge. To quote from Sudhalter and Evans s book Bix. Contact Thomas Geyer at tgeyer@qctimes.com. Bix Beiderbecke. Bix was also a notable composer. The official cause of death was pneumonia and edema of the brain. It was there that Bix Beiderbecke died alone on August 6, 1931. By 1930, it was said that ‘his improvisation ability left him’. The episode left Bix with severe peripheral neuropathy affecting both of his legs and feet as well as chronic pneumonia, which eventually killed him. His research has led him to some fresh conclusions about the case. 1G, 43-30 46th Street, in Sunnyside, Queens, New York, on August 6, 1931. It is said that violent alcohol consumption played a factor in his death… "His hysterical shouts brought me to his apartment on t… Bix Beiderbecke was born on March 10, 1903, in Davenport, Iowa, the son of Bismark Herman and Agatha Jane (Hilton) Beiderbecke. Early risers will notice a substantial change in the Quad-City weather picture. The musician-critic Benny Green sarcastically called Beiderbecke "jazz's Number One Saint," while Ralph Berton compared him to Jesus. Beiderbecke remains the subject of scholarly controversy regarding his full name, the cause of his death and the importance of his contributions to jazz. His father was nicknamed "Bix", as, for a time, was his older brother, Charles Burnette "Burnie" Beiderbecke. The critic and musician Digby Fairweather sums up Beiderbecke's musical legacy, arguing that "with Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke was the most striking of jazz's cornet (and of course, trumpet) fathers; a player who first captivated his 1920s generation and after his premature death, founded a dynasty of distinguished followers beginning with Jimmy McPartland and moving on … {{start_at_rate}} {{format_dollars}} {{start_price}} {{format_cents}} {{term}}, {{promotional_format_dollars}}{{promotional_price}}{{promotional_format_cents}} {{term}}, Traffic deaths remain same as 2019 in Iowa, WATCH NOW: The vice-presidential motorcade leaves Mason City airport, WATCH NOW: Vice President Pence lands in Mason City, WATCH NOW: An Air Force jet lands in Mason City ahead of Pence visit, WATCH NOW: Day 5 #BlackLivesMatter protest, vigil in Mason City - Thursday, June 4. His father was nicknamed "Bix", as, for a time, was his older brother, Charles Burnette "Burnie" Beiderbecke. Bix suffered from severe pain in his legs and other ill effects of prohibition era alcohol and with declining work around the New York City area, he took a turn for the worse. In 1971, on the 40th anniversary of Beiderbecke's death, the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival was founded in Davenport, Iowa, to honor the musician. The indisputable facts: On Thursday, Aug. 6, 1931, at 9:30 p.m. Beiderbecke, the great Davenport cornetist, died in New York City. There is disagreement over whether Beiderbecke was christened Leon Bismark (and nicknamed "Bix") or Leon Bix. Nevertheless, in the winter 2013 issue of the Journal of Jazz Studies, he published the article "Was Bix Beiderbecke Poisoned by the Federal Government?" Temperatures are in the 50s so you'll want a jacket when you step 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". Profession. This is the crucial premise of Sandke's—and Nicholson's—argument. then {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}} per month. Biography ... His alcohol abuse was dramatic during this time and was the main cause of his premature death. Instead, Bix headed to New York, but he was a changed man, Sandke said. The records of his stay can still be found, of all places, at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. But does it mean that Bix was murdered? He died at age 28 in 1931 during an alcoholic seizure. They then sold it to customers despite the fact that the poison was not always completely gone. Remains: Buried, Oakdale Memorial Gardens, Davenport, IA. In September of 1929—almost two years before the end—he was admitted to the Keeley Institute, in Dwight, Illinois, the nation's premier alcohol rehabilitation facility. Three years later, Ralph Berton, whose brother Vic Berton played for a time with Beiderbecke in the Wolverines, published a memoir, Remembering Bix , in which he claimed that Beiderbecke had had a brief fling with … Died: 6-Aug-1931 Place of Death: Queens, NY Cause of Death: Pneumonia Burial: (not available) Place of … Birthplace: Davenport, IA. People purchased drinks at their own risk. 73, citing Oakdale Memorial Gardens, Davenport, Scott County, Iowa, USA ; Maintained by Find A Grave . Song In a Mist https://www.thecelebritydeaths.com/bix-beiderbeckes-death-cause-and-date Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com: accessed ), memorial page for Bix Beiderbecke (10 Mar 1903–6 Aug 1931), Find a Grave Memorial no. Cause of death: You can cancel at any time. Lobar Pneumonia. And if he also drank poisoned alcohol, then that exacerbated the effects of his illness. This was a wake-up call to some in Davenport. The next year a Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Festival was begun there, and it has grown to be a huge annual event, drawing thousands to downtown Davenport every July. This strikes me as not a very useful point. Beiderbecke remains the subject of scholarly controversy regarding his full name, the cause of his death and the importance of his contributions to jazz. Biography - A Short Wiki. Though his death certificate described the cause of death as pneumonia, and he was in seriously ill health, the circumstances immediately surrounding his death are still unclear. Get recommendations for other artists you'll love. Beiderbecke remains the subject of scholarly controversy regarding his true name, the cause of his death, and the importance of his contributions to jazz. Was Bix's death caused by alcohol tainted by the federal government? In death he was again enfolded into the bosom of his family, and his grave is there in the dignified Beiderbecke … Citing the musician Randy Sandke, he asserts that Beiderbecke's symptoms were "hardly consistent with prolonged use of alcohol, [but] rather a sudden and acute poisoning—but with what?". Bootleggers distributed that alcohol, and they did so despite the government's repeated warnings that it was poisoned. His kidneys and liver didn’t function properly. From that point on, until his death at 28, his health continued to decline and his short but brilliant career was virtually over. Beiderbecke's health problems could not have been caused simply by drinking a lot. Beiderbecke remains the subject of scholarly controversy regarding his full name, the cause of his death and the importance of his contributions to jazz. It turns out that Stuart Nicholson agrees. The historical Beiderbecke, meanwhile, is the subject of scholarly controversy regarding his true name, the cause of his death, and the importance of his contributions to jazz. As it happens, Dr. Frederick J. Spencer, whose book Jazz and Death: Medical Profiles of Jazz Greats presents a physician's take on the same evidence, also argues that this incident did not involve a case of the DTs. Bix did not just one day contract pneumonia and die. It was there that Bix Beiderbecke died alone on August 6, 1931. Jazz Age cornetist, pianist, and composer who made a profound impact in spite of his life ending prematurely at age 28. He composed or played on recordings that are jazz classics and standards such as "Davenport Blues", "In a Mist", "Copenhagen", "Riverboat Shuffle", "Singin' the Blues", and "Georgia on My Mind". Burnie Beiderbecke claimed that the boy was named Leon Bix[12] and subsequent biographers have reproduced birth certificates to that effect. In it, he refers to a breakdown that preceded Beiderbecke's stint in rehab, writing: It seems all too obvious that Beiderbecke's near fatal attack resulted not from prolonged use of alcohol, but rather sudden and acute poisoning caused by substances of far greater toxicity. (See, for instance, the New York Times, "Defend Poisons Put into Alcohol," August 11, 1926.). “His health never really recovered from that point on. After Beiderbecke had arrived and been examined, the doctor wrote to inform his mother that her son suffered from a loss of appetite, diarrhea, heart palpitations, dizziness, neuritis in the feet, an enlarged liver, balancing problems, and a tremor in his fingers. There is disagreement over whether Beiderbecke was christened Leon Bismark (and nicknamed "Bix") or Leon Bix. A "Tribute to Bix Beiderbecke" takes place in Kenosha, Wisconsin on the weekend nearest March 10. He suffered from headaches, dizziness, blackouts, memory loss and had to use a cane to get around. He was just 28 years old. Bix Beiderbecke (Leon Beiderbecke), alcoholic seizure in 1931. Beiderbecke was twenty-eight when he died and by nearly all accounts he was an alcoholic. And yet there is virtually no evidence of this, and what little there is comes to us on the authority of a non-physician. As for Bix, a breakdown the night of Nov. 30, 1928, in Cleveland, may have been the result of bad alcohol, Sandke said. Birthplace: Davenport, IA. For readers to accept that Bix was murdered or at least poisoned by the federal government, they must accept that his health was destroyed by something other than his own alcoholism. But he is by no means a medical authority. Born: 10-Mar - 1903. The musician-critic Benny Green sarcastically called Beiderbecke "jazz's Number One Saint," while Ralph Berton compared him to Jesus. Discover the real story, facts, and details of Bix Beiderbecke. And yet what evidence does he provide? I could […] Bix suffered from severe pain in his legs and other ill effects of prohibition era alcohol and with declining work around the New York City area, he took a turn for the worse. Bix Beiderbecke. His findings were laid out in a 2013 essay, "Was Bix Beiderbecke Poisoned by the Federal Government," published in the Journal of Jazz Studies, a periodical from the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers. Beiderbecke died in his apartment, No. Jazz Age Genius by David R. Bix Beiderbecke was one of the great jazz musicians of the ‘s; he was also a child of the Jazz Age who drank himself to an early grave with illegal Prohibition liquor. And I think it shines a light on the way innocent people were caught up in the middle of a battle between the government and bootleggers.