Bix Beiderbecke
Another white famous trumpet Soloist. Comparing with Louis Armstrong, he is more mellow in his tone and chill. He doesn't play the high notes and more technical things like Louis.
See him play with Freddie Trumbauer in Singin the Blues, and Eddie Lang on guitar:
- Notice how somber and mellow it is in comparison to Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five's (ex: the West End Blues, where the chord structure is standard Jazz Form of 12-bar blues).
- We see again the endings of banjo in this piece (as it'll leave jazz eventually).
- There is no bass player, replaced by the guitarist here.
- The drums are likely not heard since it was recorded using sensitive hardware.
He is often considered less virtuostic than Louis, with:
- more melodic phrases
- but more expression with dynamics
- considered the more restrained/controlled in his sound
- cooler, drier tone. He plays with the band more.
Classical Origins
Beiderbecke came from a more classical background, so he uses a lot of the whole tone scale in his compositions, such as In a Mist. This would inspire a lot of the common jazz scales we use today!