INTERVIEW: Cornetist Leon ‘Bix’ Beiderbecke remembered in newly restored documentary
Photo: Leon “Bix” Beiderbecke, an important jazz composer and cornetist, is remembered in the 1981 documentary BIX. Photo courtesy of Film Forum / Provided by official site.
Brigitte Berman’s acclaimed 1981 documentary, BIX: “ain’t none of them play like him yet,” recently celebrated its 40th anniversary with a new restoration that played New York City’s Film Forum. The film tells the story of multi-hyphenate Leon “Bix” Beiderbecke, who was a composer, pianist and cornetist who died 90 years ago. The early-20th century musician was only 28 years old when he died, but he left a powerful legacy in the annals of jazz history — a legacy that continues to this day.
Berman’s film uses archival footage, including the rarest treat of all: an unearthed video of Bix himself. There are also interviews with the people who knew him best, plus the jazz musicians who were influenced by his impressive, albeit short, career.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Berman about the documentary. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
How did you first discover the story of Leon “Bix” Beiderbecke?
A former boyfriend who played the cornet, one day went with me to a record store in Toronto, where he pulled out every record of Bix that the store had, bought them, and then gave them to me and said: “Here, you have to listen to this guy play.” I did and was enthralled by Bix’s cornet playing. I remember the first tune I heard was Bix and Tram’s “Ostrich Walk.” It was my first introduction to jazz, and I was mesmerized.
And being a documentary filmmaker, I checked to see if a documentary had been made about this amazing musician because I wanted to see it, to find out more about him. I worked as a producer at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation at the time. When I discovered that none had been made, my immediate response was that I was going to make it, and that was how it all began.
And almost four years later, I completed the film. It took so long because I had a full-time job at the CBC, and so I made the BIX film in my “off hours.” And I spent a lot of time on the research of the film. Research was my forté. Over those years I probably worked about 100 hours a week.
How rare is the actual footage of Bix? How did you find it?
As I researched the film and looked for footage from that time period, particularly footage of Bix, someone put me in touch with another cornetist who loved Bix, and that person led me to another and another. And in that chain of people who helped me along the way, there were two very special people — Bob de Flores and Bob Boucher — and they had footage of Bix in their collections.
I flew to Minneapolis to meet Bob de Flores, and when he saw what a labour of love this film was for me and that I was making the film with my own savings, he decided to help me. And he gave me footage of Bix to include in the film, and the same with Bob Boucher who unfortunately is no longer alive. I am still good friends with Bob de Flores, and he, and Mark Cantor, another extraordinary jazz archivist, told me about this new footage of Bix and made it possible for me to show it at the end of my documentary.
I am hugely grateful to them and their generosity, and I am grateful to the two people who restored that film — Richard Nevins and Sherwin Dunner. Without them, this footage would not exist, and they too gave me permission to include it. And yes, it’s very rare footage.
Are you pleased with the new restoration?
I am very pleased with the new restoration. I was in a very serious car accident, and then the pandemic happened. And I was spending all my time at home and was not yet able to work on my new documentary, and so I decided the time had come. And I had the time to restore my BIX film. Two terrific artists in Toronto, who I had worked with on my recent films — Oren Edenson, who did the visual restoration, and Daniel Pellerin, who restored the sound and applied all the newest “bells and whistles” of sound technology to the film — made this film look and sound amazing.
When I saw it on the screen in New York, I was delighted with how good it looked — considering it was shot on 16mm film — and how beautiful it sounded. Also, I did make a few changes to the film. The audience, and there were many musicians in the audience, really appreciated the new sound — many of them had a VHS or DVD of the old film. And hearing the sound for the first time in the Film Forum theatre was extraordinary.
Do you think 40 years after its initial release, the movie still has a lot to say about Bix and the world you captured?
The reason I restored the film is because I realized that I had made a film that held enormous historical significance — all these wonderful musicians and for many, like Hoagy Carmichael, I did the last interview with them before they passed on. I owed it to them and to the legacy of Bix to make this film available to today’s audiences, and thanks to Bruce Goldstein, the programmer extraordinaire at the Film Forum (who is also a film director), we were able to hold a special event screening of the film on the 90th anniversary of Bix Beiderbecke’s death — Aug. 6, 2021. And Bruce had programmed it for a few more days over a two-week period, and when he realized that the film was a hit, and both young and older people came to see the film, he decided to add on more screenings. And, of course, I was delighted.
You can never take it for granted that your earlier work is still relevant, but we discovered that this film is like an evergreen. It doesn’t go out of date, and I was thrilled. I am especially pleased that young people are relating to BIX. I spoke with some after the Aug. 6 screening, and they were incredibly enthusiastic about how much seeing this film and learning about this legendary artist had meant to them.
Is this technically a world premiere? Why was the film “long unseen,” as Film Forum puts it?
It’s not a world premiere. The film was first shown in New York in a large screening room on Broadway, in the building that once housed the Cinderella Ballroom on Aug. 6, 1981. And then it was invited to the London International Film Festival; the Los Angeles International Film Festival; the Toronto International Film Festival; the San Francisco International Film Festival, where it won a Special Mention; [and] the Chicago International Film Festival, where it won a Bronze Hugo.
It was released theatrically in Scandinavia, showed on Channel 4 in England, televised across Canada by the CBC. I did try to find a good distributor for it, but in those days, documentaries were not as popular as they are today. And then I got busy making my next feature documentary about Artie Shaw, and so BIX would show at some special screenings, whenever I would receive a request for it. But it had not been shown for quite some time, and now I would like for it to find a good distributor who will help to get the film “out there.”
Do you think his relatively short life was the reason he was largely forgotten?
That’s an interesting question. In the world of jazz musicians, Bix is definitely not forgotten. He may have lived only a short time, but the music he played lives on — and will live on. As Bix’s friend, trumpeter Louis Armstrong, says in my documentary, “ain’t none of them play like him yet,” and that’s the subtitle of the film.
Many cornet players have tried to imitate Bix but have not succeeded. As Artie Shaw states in the film: “Red Nichols, supreme example of somebody who tried to copy Bix, but the trouble is, he didn’t have the sound. The sound was what it was with Bix.” Bix had a innate sense of harmonic structure. He had perfect pitch, a pure tone, extraordinary lyricism and complete control of his instrument. What I found amazing when I interviewed all the musicians and friends of his, between 1978-1980, was that even if they knew him only for a short time, they never forgot Bix, nor the solos he created so effortlessly and poignantly. It was like they had just seen and heard him recently, and not over 50 years ago.
So he has left behind a legendary legacy, and there are jazz groups around who still play his music. Vince Giordano, for instance, who knew the jazz arranger Bill Challis well (I interviewed Bill Challis for my film) and who came to the Film Forum screening on Aug. 6, has a great passion for the music of the ’20s and ’30s, and his orchestra The Nighthawks continues to keep that music alive.
Anyone who is a serious jazz musician will have heard Bix, and one of the reasons I made the film was because I did not want Bix to be forgotten. I wanted to tell his story while the people who knew him were still alive, and I was determined to tell the “real” story about Bix Beiderbecke, which is why I spent so much time researching and checking and cross-checking with those who knew him personally and who played with him. And now this has become even more important to me because I have realized that over recent years, many stories have been made up about Bix, stories that are based on hearsay and that are not accurate, and now I am even more determined to get the film back into circulation because it is important that the real story be told by those who actually knew him. And hopefully more people, who are not musicians, will learn about this genius musician who was a tortured soul.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
BIX: “ain’t none of them play like him yet” recently played New York City’s Film Forum. Click here for more information.
