cornet/composer

Leon Bismark (Bix) Beiderbecke was born on Tuesday evening March 10, 1903, the son of Bismark Herman and Agnes Jane (Aggie, Agatha Hilton) Beiderbecke.

Bix's active musical career spanned only a six-year period almost 70 years ago, but his luminous playing has left an indelible mark in the world of jazz. Today, most record stores carry CD's with reissues of his classic recordings. The jazz trade magazines carry stories about him. The Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Society keeps the presence of Bix alive and meets every year in Davenport, Iowa to honor his memory and perpetuate his music.

Bix was a genius, a jazz pioneer according to his peers and music historians. He wrote the compositions In A Mist, Candlelights, In The Dark and Flashes, as well as Davenport Blues.

Bix was known as the ultimate gentleman and in those days it wasn't considered proper to turn down a favor, including someone buying him a drink. He eventually became dependent on alcohol, a disease which contributed to Lobar Pneumonia and his death on Thursday August 6, 1931 at 9:30 pm at the age of 28 in his Queens, New York apartment. His mother and brother Bernie were on their way to NYC but arrived too late. His body was returned to Davenport with services on August 11, 1931 at Hill & Frederick's Funeral Home, and burial at Oakdale Cemetery, 25th & Eastern Ave. The Beiderbecke's family piano and cornet may be seen at the Putnam Museum and Science Center in Davenport at 12th & Division streets.