A STAMP FOR BIX IN 2006

Letter of Nomination 2006.

May 29, 2006

Dear Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee:

Several years ago, Michael Heckman and I nominated Leon “Bix” Beiderbecke as the subject of a US commemorative stamp. I enclose my original letter of nomination and supporting information, as well as a press release by Kathleen Read, publisher of the Wilson Quarterly, in support of the proposal for a Bix commemorative stamp.

Since my previous nomination, Mr. Leon “Bix” Beiderbecke has received additional honors for his extraordinary contributions to American music, and I have discovered others bestowed upon him, that I had failed to include in my nomination from 1999. 

Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame, Jazz at Lincoln Center. On September 30, 2004, Jazz at Lincoln Center celebrated the dedication of the Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame. The Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame is located on the 14^th floor of  the new home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, in Columbus Circle, New York City. The inaugural class of members inducted into the Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame were: Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Bix Beiderbecke, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Coleman Hawkins, Billie Holiday, Thelonious Monk, Jelly Roll Morton, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum and Lester Young. Thus, Bix was one of only fourteen jazz musicians honored by this award.

Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame. In 1952, Down Beat Magazine inaugurated the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame based on critics polls. The winner in 1962 was Bix Beiderbecke. Down Beat's Jazz Hall of Fame is maintained at Universal Studios's City Jazz Club in Orlando, Florida.

Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame. The non-profit organization “The Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame” was founded in 1977. The goals of the organization were to “promote greater awareness, knowledge, and appreciation of big band and jazz music.” Bix Beiderbecke was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall in the second year, together with Miles Davis, Fletcher Henderson, Billie Holiday and Charlie Parker.

International Academy of Jazz Hall of Fame. In 1977, the International Academy of Jazz Hall of Fame was created at the University of Pittsburgh “for the purpose of recognizing and honoring jazz musicians who have made exceptional contributions to the art.” From the Academy’s website, “The Academy inducts new honorees each year. Inductees are selected by a worldwide voting committee of jazz critics, writers, composers, and musicians who have for years been active forces in the field of jazz.” Bix Beiderbecke was inducted in 1993.

The Sweet and Hot Music Foundation Walk of Fame. In 1996, in conjunction with its music festival, the Sweet and Hot Music Foundation inaugurated the Walk of Fame. It consists of a series of commemorative plaques imbedded in the concrete around the poolside area of the L.A. Marriott Airport Hotel.  The inductees in 1996 were Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, and Benny Goodman. In 1997, the jazz musicians honored with a bronze plaque in the "Sweet and Hot Music Foundation Walk of Fame" were Bix Beiderbecke, Ella Fitzgerald, Cole Porter, and Thomas "Fats" Waller."

ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame. ASCAP CEO John LoFrumento called the Wall, "our way of giving permanent recognition to the greatest exponents of our country's truly indigenous and unique musical art forms." Bix was inducted into the Jazz Wall of Fame in the 1990s.

National Recording Registry.  The National Recording Preservation Act of 2000 was  "A bill to establish the National Recording Registry in the Library of Congress to maintain and preserve sound recordings and collections of sound recordings that are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and for other purposes." Bix Beiderbecke’s 1927 recording of “Singin’ the Blues” was selected in 2006 for inclusion in the 2005 Registry.

Today, more than 100 years after his birth and more than seventy years after his death, Bix Beiderbecke has a phenomenal popularity and influence that extends beyond any geographical boundaries. His recordings are still being reissued –in the United States as well as in Europe. Ken Burns jazz program on PBS devoted substantial portions of episodes 3 and 4 to the life and music of Bix Beiderbecke. Beiderbecke’s composition “In A Mist” (Bix recorded it in 1927 and played it in Carnegie Hall in 1928) was included recently in the “NPR 100: Master List of top 300 Songs.” There are currently 88 recordings of “In A Mist”, the last 10 having been recorded in the 21^st Century.

It is appropriate to end this nomination by quoting from the press release on occasion of the inauguration of the Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame, Jazz At Lincoln Center, and the induction of Bix Beiderbecke- the highest possible honor for a jazz musician.

“The greatest artists speak across epochs of the undying soul that distinguishes man from everything else in creation,” said Wynton Marsalis, Artistic Director, Jazz at Lincoln Center. “These 14 men and women are the embodiment of the very best in American culture.  Their creations will stand for all time as a testament to the richness of our way of living.  We're proud to provide the world with a place to celebrate and reflect upon their great achievements."  A 72-person international voting panel, which includes musicians, scholars and educators from 17 countries, was charged with nominating and selecting the most definitive artists in the history of jazz for induction into the Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame.  Criteria for nomination include excellence and significance of the artists’ contributions to the development and perpetuation of jazz.  “The artists that we will honor as the first class of members into the Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame gave something wonderful, passionate, inspiring and eternal to the world,” said Ahmet Ertegun. “Beiderbecke’s recording career lasted less than seven years; alcoholism and pneumonia killed him at 28. But the understated eloquence of his solos and the silvery brilliance of his tone -- "like a girl saying yes," the guitarist Eddie Condon remembered --brought a new kind of quiet lyricism to jazz and helped convince a generation of eager young white musicians that they, too, could make a contribution to the new American music.”   

It is high time for the United States Postal Service to recognize one of the most important and influential jazz musicians of the 1920s by issuing a commemorative stamp in his honor. As Louis Armstrong said about Bix, “Ain’t None of Them Played Like Him Yet.”

Sincerely,

Albert Haim

Michael B. Heckman                                                                      Albert Haim
P. O Box 644                                                                                20 Three Village Lane
Pine Bush, NY 12566                                                                    Setauket, NY 11733
 

November 19, 1999

Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee
c/o Stamp Management,
 U.S. Postal Service
 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW, Room 4474EB,
 Washington, DC 20260-6756

Dear Members of the Advisory Committee:

    In May 1998, the U.S.P.S issued a commemorative stamp entitled “Jazz Flourishes”. The description of the stamp in the U.S.P.S. web site reads: “1920’s: Jazz. Created in the United States, jazz was spread by radio and recordings in the 1920’s. Among the leading performers were Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Joe “King” Oliver, Fletcher Henderson, and Bix Beiderbecke.” The USPS singled out five musicians out of the hundreds who played in the 1920’s. Of these five musicians, two of them, Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton, have been the subjects of commemorative stamps. We suggest that Leon Bix Beiderbecke, one of the most important American jazz musicians of the century, be honored with a commemorative stamp to be issued on March 10, 2003, the 100th anniversary of his birth.
    Leon Bix Beiderbecke was a jazz musician of world renown who made unparalleled, innovative, and lasting contributions to the jazz idiom, both as a performer (cornet and piano) and as a composer. Bix is ordinarily categorized as a jazz musician. That would be an accurate but superficial description. What Bix created was music of unique beauty. Jazz was the medium of his expression, but the music that came from his cornet and piano was comparable to lyric poetry. He took the brash, extroverted art of jazz and showed that jazz can be melodious and reflective. He is credited with being an originator of the jazz ballad. He took the polyphonic New Orleans jazz style and added the expressive and lyrical instrumental solo to it. These two innovations are among the most important components of Bix’s enduring musical legacy. The other components are represented by Bix’s highly original musical compositions and by his recordings. The recordings, although made when the quality of sound reproduction was somewhat limited, show that Bix’s cornet sound was beautiful and unique, that he was a musician of exquisite taste, and that he had a remarkable genius for extemporaneous and highly original improvisation.
    Leon Bix Beiderbecke was born on March 10, 1903 in Davenport, Iowa and died in Queens, NY on August 6, 1931.  He began his professional career in 1923 playing cornet with the Wolverine Orchestra. In 1926, he joined the Jean Goldkette Victor Recording Orchestra, the most successful jazz organization in the Midwest. In 1927, he joined the orchestra of Paul Whiteman, the “King of Jazz”. During Bix’s brief recording career – it lasted only six years – he recorded with such jazz giants as Hoagy Carmichael, Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, Eddie Lang, Joe Venuti, and many others. Today, nearly 100 years after his birth and almost seventy years after his death, Bix Beiderbecke has a phenomenal popularity and influence that extends beyond any geographical boundaries.
    Bix was an original. His technique and style of playing were unique and had a profound influence on his fellow musicians. Bix’s solo in “Singin’ the Blues” has been recorded note for note by several musicians of renown such as Rex Stewart and Bobby Hackett. Following Bix’s recording of the tune, almost every jazz player in America tried to emulate his style and sound. Bix’s recording of “Singin’ the Blues” is considered by most jazz critics and historians to be one of the two most important jazz recordings of all time. The other one is Armstrong’s “West End Blues”.
However, even more important than Bix’s influence on his contemporaries, is the fact that he provided a different path than that developed by Louis Armstrong. A comparison with Armstrong, considered by many to be the most important jazz musician of the century, is appropriate because Bix’s musical creativity flourished at the same time as that of the young Louis Armstrong.  Whereas Armstrong’s strength was his spectacular technique, Bix’s genius was for extemporaneous improvisation. Bix’s improvisational style introduced into jazz music a greater measure of classical structure and sensibility. His piano compositions blend the idiom of jazz with the classical European tradition, in particular French impressionism.
    Bix’s influence in jazz was long lasting. Many jazz critics and historians consider that Bix’s music is at the origin of the movement known as cool jazz. Approximately one third of the nearly fifty existing recordings of “In A Mist”, Bix’s most important composition, were made in the 1990’s. Two jazz festivals totally dedicated to the preservation and dissemination of Bix's musical legacy take place every year.
    Detailed information is provided in the attached documents entitled “Additional Information in Support of the Nomination of Leon Bix Beiderbecke as the Subject of a Commemorative Stamp”.

                                                         Sincerely,

                                                         Michael Heckman     Albert Haim

                                                                      Albert Haim
                                                                       20 Three Village Lane
                                                                     Setauket, NY 11733
February 22, 2002
Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee
c/o Stamp Management,
 U.S. Postal Service
 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW, Room 4474EB,
 Washington, DC 20260-6756

Dear Members of the Advisory Committee:
On November 19, 1999, Michael Heckman and I submitted a latter of nomination of Leon Bix Beiderbecke as the subject of a commemorative stamp to be issued on March 6, 2003, the 100th anniversary of his birthday.

I recently became aware of two important pieces of information in support of our nomination. In our previous letter, we highlighted Bix’s cornet solo in the recording of “Singin’ the Blues” by Frank Trumbauer and his orchestra and Bix’s piano solo recording of his own composition “In A Mist.”  We discovered strong supporting evidence for the seminal importance of the two recordings.

The Grammy organization has several types of awards. One of these is the "Grammy Hall of Fame Award." As described in the grammy.com website, "The GRAMMY Hall of Fame was established by the Recording Academy's National Trustees in 1973 to honor early recordings of lasting, qualitative or historical significance that were released more than 25 years ago. Winners are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of the recording arts." Two of the entries in the list of awards read as follows.

SINGIN' THE BLUES
Inducted 1977
Frankie Trumbauer And His Orchestra Featuring Bix Beiderbecke On Cornet
Okeh
Jazz
1927

IN A MIST (Piano Solo)
Inducted 1980
Bix Beiderbecke
Okeh
Jazz
1927

An additional piece of information must be brought up to recognize the significance of the two Grammy Hall of Fame Awards. Bix Beiderbecke’s recording career covered the years 1924-1930. During that period, six records in the jazz genre were honored. Two of these are Bix’s. Clearly, the induction of the recordings “Singin’ the Blues” and “In A Mist” to the Grammy Hall of Fame bolsters our contention of the seminal importance of the contributions of  Bix Beiderbecke to our American musical legacy.

Sincerely,

Albert Haim

Additional Information in Support of the 1999 Nomination of
Leon Bix Beiderbecke
as the Subject of a Commemorative Stamp

    In what follows, we will list evidence of the recognition and honors bestowed upon Bix in recognition of his seminal contributions and achievements.

•  The Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Society, founded in 1971, is dedicated to the preservation and perpetuation of Bix’s musical genius. The most important activity of the Society is the annual Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival, which has taken place without interruption since 1972 in Davenport, Iowa, Bix’s birthplace.  At the last Festival in 1999, approximately 15,000 people attended the festivities, which include the Jazz Festival, the world class Bix 7 race, and a street fair. Orchestras from within the United States as well as from abroad play at the Jazz Festival. The annual festival is reputed to be the largest single event in the state of Iowa.
• In November of 1997, Bix Beiderbecke was inducted in the International Jazz Hall of Fame (IJHF). "The primary mission of the IJHF is to preserve and perpetuate the sophisticated, multifaceted art form that is American jazz." From 1972 to 1991, the IJHF was part of the Charlie Parker Memorial Foundation. In 1991, it was incorporated as a nonprofit organization. Since 1977, the IJHF has inducted several jazz giants into its ranks, among them, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Ella Fitzgerald, and Charlie Parker. At the Induction Award Ceremonies in Tampa, Florida, on November 20, and 21, 1997, in addition to Bix, Earl Hines, Coleman Hawkins, Jelly Roll Morton, and Django Reinhardt, among others, were inducted.
• The National Register of Historic Places, a branch of the Department of Interior, is the Nation's official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation. Included among the 80,000 properties listed in the Register, are National Historic Landmarks, Lighthouses, Libraries, Schools, and Mills. The National Register also includes about 15,000 houses across the United States. One of these is the house at 1934 Grand Avenue, Davenport, Iowa. This is the house where Bix was born. The house was entered into the register on July 13, 1977, reference number 77000554. We wish to point out that, “in order to qualify for inclusion in the National Register, the property must be of special significance to the Nation, the State, or the community”. Certainly, Bix's house qualifies on all counts. Bix's musical genius transcends Davenport, Iowa, and even the United States, as witness the number of biographies written abroad and the number of reissues on LP's and CD's of Bix's recordings in the U.S.A., Italy, France, Germany, and England.
• Nine biographies of Bix Beiderbecke have been written, the first in 1958, the last two in 1998. These biographies were first published in the U.S.A, England, Germany, and Italy. One of the biographies is part of the “Notable American Series for Young Readers”. As of 1998, there were eleven titles in the series, including “Smart Money: The Story of Bill Gates”; “More Perfect Union: The Story of Alexander Hamilton”; “Richard Nixon, American Politician”; “Mr. Civil Rights: The Story of Thurgood Marshall”; “Shattered Dreams: The Story of Mary Todd Lincoln”. Indeed, Bix is in distinguished company. In addition, a novel “Young Man With a Horn” by Dorothy Baker “based on the music of Bix Beiderbecke” became a best seller and was made into a movie starring Kirk Douglas. [Addendum, 2006: a tenth biography was published in French in 2003 and translated into English in 2005.]
• Four Ph.D. Dissertations have been devoted to analyses of Bix’s music and life. Two of these originated in American Universities, one in a French University, and one in an Italian University. Two of the dissertations emphasize the contributions of Bix as a composer by assessing the exchange of influences between American Jazz and French impressionist music.
• The 1990 film “Bix: An Interpretation of a Legend” by the world-class cinematographer Pupi Avati was shown in 1991 at the Cannes Film Festival and was released on video in 1994. The film represents a high-quality production filmed in many of the original sites where Bix lived and worked. The meticulous recreation of the music and period are noteworthy.
• Brigitte Berman, the award-winning Canadian documentary film maker, wrote, produced and directed the film “Bix: Ain't None of Them Play Like Him Yet”. The film won the Bronze Hugo Award at the Chicago International Film Festival in Chicago in 1981.
• Bix played “In A Mist”, his most famous piano composition, in Carnegie Hall in 1928. This was part of an experimental concert presented by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra. This must have been one of the most satisfying moments in Bix's professional life. At a time when he was becoming quite serious about musical composition and turning more toward the piano as the vehicle for his prodigious musical inventiveness, performing his own piano masterpiece in one of the world's top concert halls was undoubtedly one of the highest points in Bix's career.
• A poem dedicated to Bix was written by Michael Longley, a famous Irish poet. Among Longley’s poems, we cite “Cease Fire” and “Peace” (about the problems in Northern Ireland). In 1992, Longley received the prestigious Whitbred Poetry Prize for his work “Gorse Fires”. Michael Longley wrote the poem "To Bix Beiderbecke", in honor of Bix's genius for composition and improvisation.
• Forty-three albums or CD’s that represent tributes to Bix by other musicians have been released in the last twenty years.
• Countless chapters in books and articles in magazines have been dedicated to analyses of  Bix’s musical career. Perhaps, the most notable article was published in the prestigious Smithsonian magazine in July 1997.
• The Putnam Museum in Davenport, Iowa and the Louisiana State Museum Jazz Collection in New Orleans have special areas devoted to audio-visual exhibits of Bix’s musical instruments, photographs and biographical information.
• The distinguished composer Lalo Schiffrin wrote a symphonic piece – Rhapsody for Bix – as a tribute to Bix’s musical genius. The premiere performance of the composition took place in Davenport, Iowa in 1996.
• Radio stations throughout the country celebrate Bix’s birthday every year by having special programs devoted to his music. The most outstanding example comes from the radio station of Columbia University, WKCR, that broadcasts 24 hours of Bix’s music every March 10, the date of  Bix’s birthday.
• Several stage and television shows throughout the years have been devoted to remembering and honoring Bix’s musical genius. Chicago and All That Jazz, a Dupont Show of the Week telecast on NBC on November 26, 1961, with Garry Moore as the host consists of several segments that feature several artists who were from Chicago and/or contributed to the Chicago style of jazz. The highlights of the show are two magnificent tributes, one to Bix and one to Louis Armstrong, the two most influential musicians in developing the Chicago style of jazz. PBS telecast on August 7, 1976 a program entitled Jazz at the Top, Remembering Bix Beiderbecke. The 1999 Ascona (Switzerland) Jazz Festival featured tributes to three giants of jazz, Bix Beiderbecke, Duke Ellington and Jelly Roll Morton.

Additional information can be found in a web site entitled “Bix Beiderbecke Resources: A Bixography”. The URL is http://ms.cc.sunysb.edu/~alhaim/index.html

 BIXOPHILES DEMAND ...

 U.S. POSTAL SERVICE SHOULD COMMEMORATE

 AN AMERICAN JAZZ ORIGINAL, BIX BEIDERBECKE

 BY KATHY READ

 WASHINGTON, D.C.  Such legendary and disparate 1920s' celebrities as Babe Ruth, Herbert Hoover, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gloria Swanson, Charles Lindbergh, the Prince of Wales and King Oliver all had one thing in common. 

 They were Bixophiles, enthusiastic fans of the great jazz cornet/trumpet player Bix Beiderbecke.  Unfortunately, Beiderbecke , whose improvisation abilities and mellow sound still influence aspiring musicians , died of pneumonia in 1931, a year and a half short of his 30th birthday.  If he had lived, his name might be as famous as two of his longer-lived admirers, Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong.

While Beiderbecke may be denied a place in the first circle of the jazz pantheon, a new generation of Bixophiles is striving to secure him at least a small measure of immortality with a commemorative U.S. postage stamp.

 Noting that the U.S. Postal Service already has honored such great American jazz artists as Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton, Bixophiles hope to persuade the USPS to issue a commemorative stamp of Beiderbecke by March 10, 2003 , the 100th anniversary of his birth in the Mississippi River town of Davenport, Iowa.

         During his all too brief, six-year recording career, Bix Beiderbecke turned out records with such giants as Hoagy Carmichael, Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang and Gene Krupa.  Whatever the all-star constellation, Bix always was considered first among equals.

          The longer, more introspective riffs of Beiderbecke are considered the forerunners of the cerebral "cool jazz" sound that, while evolving, still thrives today.  That timelines is illustrated by the fact that about one-third of the nearly 50 existing recordings of Bix's most important composition, "In a Mist," were made in the 1990s.

         "Bix's improvisational style," says Haim, "introduced a greater measure of classical structure and sensibility. His piano compositions blend the idiom of jazz with classical European tradition, particularly, French impressionism."

         With or without a postage stamp, Beiderbecke's music will live on.

         The Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Society was founded in 1971 to preserve and perpetuate his musical genius.  Two annual jazz festivals offer homage to him, including one that began in hometown of Davenport in 1972.  The home he was born in there is on the National Register of Historic Places. Forty-three CDs and albums by other musicians paying tribute to Bix have been released in the last two decades.  There are nine different biographies of Bix, the last two published in 1998, and two award-winning documentary movies.

 Yet Haim thinks Beiderbecke's prominent role in Ken Burns' recent PBS series on jazz may be the impetus needed to spur the postal service's stamp selection commission to issue a "Bixer". 

 "We hope it happens by his centennial year of 2003," Haim says.  "If they do, I think the postal service will be surprised by the flood of requests they get from all over the world for first-day commemorative issues.

 There are, after all, legions of jazz lovers who agree with the title of one the documentary movies about him. Bix, Ain’t None of Them Play Like Him Yet."

 Kathy Read is the publisher of The Wilson Quarterly, a publication that is celebrating its 25th anniversary as a  leading chronicler of American and international culture. Readers may write her at The Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, One Woodrow Wilson Place, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004.

EDITORS NOTE: The writer gives permission to newspapers to publish this op-ed in Online as well as print editions without compensation.

Additional information about  efforts to have a Bix commemorative stamp are summarized in

http://bixbeiderbecke.com/stampforbix.htm

 

Through His Music, Bix Is Alive
 

Recordings
The Original 78's
Analysis of Some Recordings: Is It Bix or Not ?
Complete Compilations of Bix's Recordings
Tributes to Bix
Miscellaneous Recordings Related to Bix
In A Mist