The Bix Centennial All-Stars: Celebrating Bix!

Cornetist Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke, while certainly heavily influenced by Louis Armstrong, developed his own highly stylized way of playing and improvising jazz. One wonders what musical highlights might have been accomplished had he lived beyond his 28 years.

Celebrating Bix!, originally released in 2003 as a single CD album, adds selections which, due to size constraints, did not make the original release, but they all certainly "make it" here as a double CD and vinyl release. What results is a total of 21 marvelous selections associated with the legend, brought to new life via outstanding musicians who deliver a spectacular effort. Their inspired playing of newly created arrangements results is a tour de Bix.

"At the Jazz Band Ball" christens the festivities with a rollicking take featuring three cornets harmonized and playing Bix's marvelously inventive solo. "Proud (of a Baby Like You)" offers a superb Peter Ecklund arrangement and exuberant vocal by Barbara Rosene. "Deep Harlem" is a darker, slow-drag blues with shades of early Duke Ellington. The classic "Davenport Blues" roars, as does a moody "Blue River" which features a trio of Dan Levinson, Scott Robinson, and Pete Martinez on C-Melody saxophones.

The players here are, in a word, phenoms (and acolytes of the style) when it comes to recreating the stylings, articulations, and expressiveness of 1920s jazz. Cornetists Jon-Erik Kellso, Randy Reinhart, and Randy Snadke, woodwinds Dan Levinson, Scott Martinez and Scott Robinson, and bassist/bass sax man, Vince Giordano all are standouts. Piano legend, Dick Hyman shines as a cameo on "Clementine (from New Orleans)," where he covers Beiderbecke's solo brilliantly. "Trombology," from the pen of Frank Trumbauer, is clearly a highlight among highlights. Catch the way the C-melody saxophones articulate. "China Boy" and "Borneo" are also marvelous, upbeat tracks here. "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans" is offered slower here with Levinson and guitarist Howard Alden yearning in a mellow mood.

The jovial essence of this album is infectious. Further, the enclosed essays provide the perfect backstory to Bix, the Wolverines, and the development of this fine production. Whether one is new to Bix, a trad jazz fan, bebopper, or avant-garde lover, the performances on Celebrating Bix! are impressive. It is the perfect partner for a long ride, and, is—raise that glass of bathtub gin—a musical romp.