Could there be another Bix today
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Is it possible for Bix to exist today with the internet and music resources so widely available.
Bix could not read music other than on a rudimentary level.
He was not trained in cornet or any brass instrument
He had to work out how to play and used alternate fingerings because he did not know correct fingerings
This led to a number of things, he developed a unique phrasing and style, and he did not write down his improvs or use licks.
In his last appearance he stood and was unable to play anything his improvs deserted him. If he were a modern player with licks a plenty and a strategy for jazz improv he would not have had a problem but instead would have made it through that performance.
He was replaced in the band because of being unable to play when called upon to do so.
If he were born today he would have access to theory training and software that would have moulded him to use correct technique correct fingering a huge number of licks and jazz phrases plus access to Jamey Abersold.
Would he have any chance of becoming the great man that Bix became in his lifetime.
Possibly, but I doubt it.
Students learn to be as their teacher, Bix had no teacher and was free to develop to his full potential in areas that mattered.
I believe that if he was born today Bix would not be Bix.
I believe that the saying keep a fighter hungry applies, Bix was hungry for Jazz and when he couldnt find what he needed he invented it and we all benefit from that.
Long live Bix, the musician the seeker the inventor the ground breaking Jazz man.
Forever we will be in his debt
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Of course anyone can speculate, if they wish, maybe some find it fun. For me, that ship's already sailed. Vastly different eras, so my personal feedback is - doesn't apply.
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No ipads, game consols, tv, Youtube or netflix back then. So no comparison. Bix is a legend of history and thats where he'll stay. We will always look back in awe of champions like him.
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I have come to realise that you are both correct.
The boat has indeed sailed as you say Kehaulani.
And Bix was a champion without the benefit of modern tools like internet youtube netflix. He broke new ground in his day totally unaided as did Louis.
Thank you for your comments and for illuminating my understanding.
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You forget that if Bix heard it, he could play it. It is realistic to think he internalized everything he heard. He was, therefore, educated in music in a way that was quite serviceable. Most players of that time did not read music. They also "knew" music in an intimate way and were also educated because of that.
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I think you misunderstand what I was trying to say.
I did not mean he was musically uneducated, reading scores and being musically educated are two different things as you said.
What I mean to say is he developed new styles and ways of playing unrelated to others. This is one of the signs of genius.
It has been said that because Bix was not formally or classically trained he developed a range of alternate fingerings that were unique to him.
In the excellent "Current Research on Jazz" "Bruce Boyd Raeburn" published these words about Bix "Bix is the only musician who created a separate and distinct jazz style"
And then went on to say "Bix pulled his style right out of the sky. He would sit in front of the Joe Oliver band, with Louis in it, enjoy it immensely yet not one phrase or lick did he ever get from them"
For these reasons and many others my opinion is that Bix while he was definitely influenced by others, broke new ground in his playing and his influence on Jazz was profound innovative and influential.
This is the link to the current research on jazz article
https://www.crj-online.org/v4/CRJ-BixNewOrleans.php -
I think I'm missing your point. That Bix was an innovator? The world is and has been, full of innovators.
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There is no time restriction for talent. Any quality can crop up from any country at any time. No one really can plan birth, experience and opportunity. Irrelevant question.
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@trumpetb said in Could there be another Bix today:
Bix is the only musician who created a separate and distinct jazz style"
Well, I think we can agree that the statement above is simply not true. He did innovate but he also pulled from classical composers and integrated that into his jazz music.
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Lester Young
Colman Hawkins
Charlie Parker
Dizzy Gillespie
Cecil Taylor
Ornette ColemanDo we really need to go on?
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As Bix, and all artists, are, in part, a product of their time and culture, I would have to say "no." Not that there aren't people as talented; just that the combination that produced "Bix" is simply not possible today. Just my thoughts.
