Bix Beiderbecke

Bix Beiderbecke(比克斯.贝德贝克）1903 ~ 1931
 
主要演奏乐器：短号
 
主要音乐风格：古典爵士乐
 
1903年5月10日生于美国依阿华州的达文泼特市。贝德贝克(早逝的奇才)大约在3岁时就能在钢琴上凭借听觉的记忆弹奏出曲调来，并且在幼年时几乎是靠自学掌握了短号的演奏方法。1921年，贝德贝克被父母送到弗罗斯特湖军事学院学习，他们期望军校严格的训练能改变儿子不切实际的幻想。然而．贝德贝克为了学习、交流爵士乐．不惜逃课、逃学，最终因缺课大多而被勒令退学，这反而成全了他成为专职爵士乐音乐家的愿望。1923年．贝德贝克成为了“沃尔夫林斯”乐队的明星短号手，一年后与乐队录制了一些经典的乐曲。1924年下半年，贝德贝克离开“沃尔夫林斯“乐队，加盟简·古德特的管弦乐队，但最终因不识谱而丢掉了饭碗。1925年，贝德贝克利用业余时间苦下功夫学习识谱。1927年．他再次加盟辞退他的简·古德凯特的管弦乐队，并录制了根据德彪西的音乐而产生创作灵感的钢琴名曲《在雾中》，同时还与乐队一起录制了不少经典名曲。后来，他签约受雇于保罗·惠特曼的管弦乐队，贝德贝克自己最满意的独奏是在乔治·格什温的《F大调协奏曲》中竭尽才思的表演。与惠特曼在一起，贝德贝克的独奏极其神奇，配器非常有特点，他创作的热门歌曲《甜蜜的苏》就是一个最好的例证。1929年，酗酒的恶习已渐渐侵蚀了贝的德贝克的音乐灵性，到1930年，他录制的一些唱片已非常令乐迷失望。1931年8月6曰，贝德贝克在纽约州纽约市因酗酒过量去世，年仅28岁。
 
* 趣味故事 *
 
~ 不识谱的“演奏家” ~
 
比克斯·贝德贝克在成为专业演奏时还不会识谱．开始，他总是靠自己的天赋和耳熟能详之后，再进行演奏。说起来，贝德贝克开始的处竟有点象中国的一句成语——滥竽充数。很快，乐队指挥就发现了贝德贝克是个不识谱的“演奏家”，一次排练时，指挥把他叫起来，并拿来一份新的乐谱让他演奏，贝德贝克这下傻了眼，只好承认了不识谱的实情。指挥没有嘲笑他，只是很客气地对他说了一句话：“噢噢！原来是这样，你明天可以在家睡慵觉了！”贝德贝克知道指挥这句话的意思。从此便告别了乐团，用了整整一年的功夫学习识谱，天赋和勤奋成全了他，使他很快赶上并超过了同龄人。
 
著名专辑:
 
《芝加哥短号》
 
And the Chicago Cornets (1924—1925年)
 
《歌唱布鲁斯》(第l集)
 
Bix Beiderbecke,Vol.1:The Blues (1927年)
 
《在爵士乐队舞会上》(第1集)
 
At the Jazz Band Ball,Vol.2 (1927—1928年)
 
《不可缺少》
 
The Indispensible (1924-1930年)
 
《比克斯现场录音》
 
Bix Lives (1927—-1930年)
by Scott Yanow
Bix Beiderbecke was one of the greatest jazz musicians of the 1920s. His colorful life, quick rise and fall, and eventual status as a martyr made him a legend even before he died, and he has long stood as proof that not all the innovators in jazz history were black. Possessor of a beautiful, distinctive tone and a strikingly original improvising style, Beiderbeckes only competitor among cornetists in the 20s was Louis Armstrong but (due to their different sounds and styles) one really could not compare them.
Beiderbecke was a bit of a child prodigy, picking out tunes on the piano when he was three. While he had conventional training on the piano, he taught himself the cornet. Influenced by the original Dixieland Jazz Band, Beiderbecke craved the freedom of jazz but his straight-laced parents felt he was being frivolous. He was sent to Lake Forest Military Academy in 1921 but, by coincidence, it was located fairly close to Chicago, the center of jazz at the time. Beiderbecke was eventually expelled he missed so many classes. After a brief period at home he became a full-time musician. In 1923, Beiderbecke became the star cornetist of the Wolverines and a year later this spirited group made some classic recordings.
In late 1924, Beiderbecke left the Wolverines to join Jean Goldkettes orchestra but his inability to read music resulted in him losing the job. In 1925, he spent time in Chicago and worked on his reading abilities. The following year he spent time with Frankie Trumbauers orchestra in St. Louis. Although already an alcoholic, 1927 would be Beiderbeckes greatest year. He worked with Jean Goldkettes orchestra (most of their records are unfortunately quite commercial), recorded his piano masterpiece In a Mist (one of his four Debussy-inspired originals), cut many classic sides with a small group headed by Trumbauer (including his greatest solos: Singin the Blues, Im Comin Virginia, and Way Down Yonder in New Orleans), and then signed up with Paul Whitemans huge and prosperous orchestra. Although revisionist historians would later claim that Whitemans wide mixture of repertoire (much of it outside of jazz) drove Beiderbecke to drink, he actually enjoyed the prestige of being with the most popular band of the decade. Beiderbeckes favorite personal solo was his written-out part on George Gershwins Concerto in F.
With Whiteman, Beiderbeckes solos tended to be short moments of magic, sometimes in odd settings; his brilliant chorus on Sweet Sue is a perfect example. He was productive throughout 1928, but by the following year his drinking really began to catch up with him. Beiderbecke had a breakdown, made a comeback, and then in September 1929 was reluctantly sent back to Davenport to recover. Unfortunately, Beiderbecke made a few sad records in 1930 before his death at age 28. The bad liquor of the Prohibition era did him in.
For the full story, Bix: Man & Legend is a remarkably detailed book. Beiderbeckes recordings (even the obscure ones) are continually in print, for his followers believe that every note he played was special.