[Dixielandjazz] Bix's Solo

[Steve Barbone]

Ray Osnato <rorel at aol.com> wrote (polite snip)
> The best 'analysis' of Bix's playing, IMHO, remains a general comment
> by Dick Sudhalter in his liner notes for the three-volume TRAM! set on The Old
> Masters:
> 
> "The cornetist's every recorded solo, regardless of length or setting, seems
> to communicate a range of identifiable emotions: a bittersweet yearning, a
> fresh, almost girlish innocence, even, though admittedly at a stretch,
> something foredoomed, more than a little fey."
> 
> Gunther Schuller's analyses, peppered through his tomes, say much more about
> the music.

Yep, you nailed it Ray. They is too much analytical BS written about Bix
(and others) regarding jazz. I love some of the Bixian quotes like ;
(paraphrasing here) He chose every single note with great care, playing only
those that would add to his creation., etc.

IMO, what Bix did was play a note, have his ear react to it and play another
note that fit what he heard. This is common practice to those of us who are
self taught, ear trained, not good readers (at least in the early years) yet
know, by rote , where the matching notes lie on the horn.

Once you start playing this way, you get quite adept at it. Bix, and others
like Chet Baker or Sidney Bechet were just more adept at it than the rest of
us who learned to play this way. (In Bix's cases by playing along with
records)

Did he know what he was playing? IMO, a big no. Same goes for many jazz
players through the last century. And so those who over analyze what he did,
as in the case previously quoted, are simply pounding sand.

Is it beautiful, never the less? Damn right it is. For the intellectuals on
the list who want to see Plato's thoughts on beauty (including music) see:

http://lyceumphilosophy.com/?q=node/50

Cheers,
Steve Barbone