Bix Beiderbecke

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.
==Links to Peel==
As a listener to jazz who preferred older styles of the music, Peel would have been aware of the original 1920s records by Bix Beiderbecke, and featured occasional tracks by "Bix"  during the later decades of his show. He also chose The Beiderbecke Affair as his favourite TV show in the NME Celebrity Best Of feature in the issue of 23 February 1985. The Beiderbecke Affair was a fiction comedy drama set in Leeds with the soundtrack of jazz music in the style of Bix Beiderbecke, performed by Frank Ricotti with Kenny Baker as featured cornet soloist. 
==Shows Played==
;thumb|220x220px1978
*01 June 1978: In A Mist
;1985
*12 February 1985: The Jazz Me Blues
;1999
*08 July 1999: 'Fidgety Feet' (Peelenium 1924)
==External Links==
*Wikipedia
*Discogs
*Fansite
Category:Artists