Original air date - Phantom Dancer :: 12:00pm 15th Oct 2019

BIX

The first live jazz band I saw, many members of which I was later to sing with in my own band, played in front of a banner 'Bix Lives'. Bix Beidebecke was an American jazz cornetist, pianist and composer. This week's 2SER Subscriber Drive Phantom Dancer presented by Greg Poppleton features music by this enourmous figure in jazz history and a 1941 reminiscence about Bix by someone who knew him personally.

ONLINE

This week's Phantom Dancer will be online right after the 15 October 107.3 2SER Sydney live mix at 2ser.com. Hear the show live every Tuesday 12:04-2pm on 107.3 2SER Sydney.

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BIX AND PAUL

The Bix musical selections you'll hear on this week's Phantom Dancer comes from recordings he made as part of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. The Paul Whiteman Orchestra was the most popular and highest paid dance band of the day. In spite of Whiteman's appellation "The King of Jazz", his band was not a jazz ensemble as such, but a popular music outfit that drew from both jazz and classical music repertoires. Idiotic jazz critics have derided the Whiteman band for not recording solo after solo by Bix. However, colleagues of Bix have testified that, far from feeling bound or stifled by the Whiteman orchestra, Bix often felt a sense of exhilaration. It was like attending a music school, learning and broadening. Beiderbecke is featured on a number of Whiteman recordings, including two we'll hear today with Bing Crosby and the Rhythm Boys as vocalists. These are, 'You Took Advantage Of Me' and 'Changes'.

IMPRO

These two songs are specially written arrangements that emphasize Beiderbecke's improvisational skills. Bill Challis, an arranger who had also worked in this capacity for Jean Goldkette, was particularly sympathetic in writing scores with Beiderbecke in mind, sometimes arranging entire ensemble passages based on solos that Bix played.

HOTEL ROOM TRASHING 40 YEARS AHEAD OF HIS TIME

On November 30, 1928, whilst on tour in Cleveland, Beiderbecke suffered 'a severe nervous crisis'. "He cracked up, that's all", trombonist Bill Rank said. "Just went to pieces; broke up a roomful of furniture in the hotel."

LAST RECORD

On his last recording session, in New York, on September 15, 1930, Beiderbecke played on the original recording of Hoagy Carmichael's new song, 'Georgia on My Mind' with Carmichael doing the vocals, Eddie Lang on guitar, Joe Venuti on violin, Jimmy Dorsey on clarinet and alto saxophone, Jack Teagarden on trombone, and Bud Freeman on tenor saxophone. The song would go on to become a jazz and popular music standard.

STARDUST

Beiderbecke's playing had an influence on Carmichael as a composer. One of his compositions, 'Stardust', was inspired by Beiderbecke's improvisations, with a cornet phrase reworked by Carmichael into the song's central theme. Bing Crosby, who sang with Whiteman, also cited Beiderbecke as an important influence. "Bix and all the rest would play and exchange ideas on the piano", he said. "With all the noise [of a New York pub] going on, I don't know how they heard themselves, but they did. I didn't contribute anything, but I listened and learned […] I was now being influenced by these musicians, particularly horn men. I could hum and sing all of the jazz choruses from the recordings made by Bix, Phil Napoleon, and the rest."

VIDEO

This week's Phantom Dancer video of the week shows Bix Beidebecke playing with the Whiteman Orchestra in a 1928 newsreel. Beidebecke, a self-taught cornetist, plays with puffed cheeks. watch?v=RmD7jeIEkfg

15 OCTOBER PLAY LIST

Play List - The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #409
107.3 2SER Tuesday 15 October 2019 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 - 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT) National Program: ArtsoundFM Canberra Sunday 10 - 11pm Edge FM Bega Monday 3 - 4pm 7MID Oatlands Tuesday 8 - 9pm 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 - 1pm 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 - 6am and early morning on 23 other stations.
Set 1	One Night Stand
Open + Three Little Words	Tony Pastor Orchestra	'One Night Stand' Jaentzen Beach Portland OR AFRS Re-broadcast 15 May 1945
I Don't Wanna Be Loved By Anyone Else But You + How Deep Is The Ocean?	Louis Prima Orchestra (voc) Lily Ann Polk	'One Night Stand' Meadowbrook Ballroom Cedar Grove NJ AFRS Re-broadcast 28 Sep 1945
Perdido + Close	Randy Brooks Orchestra	'One Night Stand' Roseland Ballroom NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 21 Sep 1944
Set 2	Orrin Tucker
Because of You	Orrin Tucker Orchestra (voc) Orrin Tucker	Trocadero Ballroon Elitch's Gardens Mutual Denver CO Jun 1951
Drifting and Dreaming	Orrin Tucker Orchestra (voc) The Bodyguards	Comm Rec Los Angeles 15 Dec 1939
Goodnight My Love + Drifting and Dreaming (theme)	Orrin Tucker Orchestra (voc) Orrin Tucker	Boulevarde Room Stevens Hotel ABC Chicago 1951
Set 3	Eddie Condon
Oh, By Jingo!	Eddie Condon	'Doctor Jazz' Eddie Condon's WNEW NY 10 Dec 1951
I Found A New Baby	Eddie Condon	'Eddie Condon's Jazz Concert' WJZ Blue NY 3 Mar 1945
Bad Habits + Somebody Loves Me + Close	Eddie Condon (voc) Lee Wiley	'Chesterfield Presents Eddie Condon' Date and place unknown
Set 4	Bix Beidebecke
Changes	Paul Whiteman Orchestra (Bix solo) (voc) Rhythm Boys	Comm Rec NYC 23 Nov 1927
Bix Reminiscence	Ralph Burton	'Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street' WJZ Blue NY 6 Jan 1941
You Took Advantage of Me	Paul Whiteman Orchestra (Bix solo) (voc) Rhythm Boys	Comm Rec NYC 24 Apr 1928
Set 5	Swing Radio 1940-1941
Jug Music	Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra	Palladium Ballroom KFI NBC LA 20 Oct 1941
I'm Looking For A Guy Who Plays Alto And Baritone Doubles On A Clarinet And Wears A Size 37 Suit	Ozzie Nelson Orchestra (voc) Rose Ann Stevens	Blackhawk Restaurant WGN Mutual Chicago 30 Mar 1940
Oh So Good	Glenn Miller Orchestra	Cafe Rouge Hotel Pennsylvania WJZ NBC Blue 27 Dec 1941
Tuxedo Junction	Glenn Miller Orchestra (voc) Marion Hutton, Tex Beneke and the Modernaires	Cafe Rouge Hotel Pennsylvania WJZ NBC Blue 27 Dec 1941
Set 6	Anita O'Day
Kick It	Anita O'Day (voc) Gene Krupa Orchestra	Aircheck 7 Jun 1941
I'll Do It All Over Again	Anita O'Day (voc) Gene Krupa Orchestra	Astor Roof Hotel Astor WOR Mutual NY 15 Aug 1945
Open + Amour	Anita O'Day (voc) Gene Krupa Orchestra	Aircheck 1 Oct 1941
Drum Boogie	Anita O'Day (voc) Gene Krupa Orchestra	Aircheck 1 Oct 1941
Set 7	1930s Dance Band Radio Transcriptions
I'll Do Anything For You	Seger Ellis and his Choirs of Brass	Radio Transcription 1937
Ride, Tenderfoot, Ride	Dick Jurgens Orchestra (voc) Eddie Howard	Radio Transcription 1938
Snuff Stuff	Seger Ellis and his Choirs of Brass	Radio Transcription 1937
There's Silver on the Sage Tonight	Dick Jurgens Orchestra (voc) Eddie Howard	Radio Transcription 1939
Set 8	Charlie Parker
Scrapple From The Apple	Charlie Parker	'Symphony Sid Show' Royal Roost WMCA NY 15 Jan 1949
Ad for Face Powder	Symphony Sid	'Symphony Sid Show' Royal Roost WMCA NY 19 Feb 1949
Oo-Bop-Sha-Bam	Charlie Parker (voc) Band	'Symphony Sid Show' Royal Roost WMCA NY 22 Jan 1949