Tribute to Bix Beiberbecke

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Stephen Longstreet
Tribute to Bix Beiberbecke
1974

About the Item

Tribute to Bix Beiberbecke Mixed media collage, 1974 Signed and titled in ink; lower right recto (see photo) Signed and dated ’74 in red crayon verso Image size: 32.5 x 22.75 inches Condition: Wrinkles due to collage and support sheet Provenance: Joseph Erdelac, Cleveland (friend and patron of Longstreet) One of the first Jazz Legends. He died at age 28 from alcoholism. Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke (March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931) was an American jazz cornetist, pianist, and composer. Stephen Longstreet (1907-2002) Born Chauncy Weiner (sometimes spelled Wiener) in New York City in 1907, Longstreet reinvented himself on a regular basis. Changing his name first to “Henry,” then “Henri,” he started his career as a commercial artist for a department store. In various public biographies he claimed to have studied in New York, London, and Paris, and said he was a student of cartoonist Ralph Barton (1891-1931). Facts that can be documented are that he was art editor for Golfer and Sportsman magazines, and was a contributor to various other magazines including The New Yorker, Saturday Evening Post, Colliers, Life, and Hooey, among others. He wrote sketches for NBC radio and the Rudy Vallee Show. In the 1930s, Longstreet worked and wrote under the names Thomas Burton, David Ormsbee, and Paul Haggard before settling on the name Stephen Longstreet in 1939. He wrote 12 novels under this name as well as numerous screen plays, most notably The Jolson Story, The Greatest Show on Earth, and The Helen Morgan Story. Longstreet claimed to have been introduced to ragtime and jazz by no less a legend than singer Paul Robeson while Robeson was an All-American football player at Rutgers University. However it happened, the world of jazz was a constant theme throughout Longstreet’s life. He drew and painted such notables as Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, and Duke Ellington. His media included collage, watercolors, and ink drawings. In 1989 Longstreet published his 100th book, Jazz from A to Z: a Graphic Dictionary. One of the more curious aspects of Longstreet’s art is his method of dating his material. He dated his works by the year depicted, not by the date of actual execution. Art signed “Longstreet” and dated before 1939 was actually done much later, as Stephen Longstreet did not exist prior to that! Early works from the late 1920s and 1930s will be signed “Henri” or “He” since Longstreet was still Weiner in those days. Later he often signed his work SL inside a circle. His collages dated in the 1950s or earlier were most likely done in the 1970s or 1980s. Longstreet spent most of his life in the Los Angeles area with his wife and oft-times collaborator, Ethel Longstreet. The artist remained active and prolific into his 90s. He died in Los Angeles in 2002 at the age of 94. Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s, a cornet player noted for an inventive lyrical approach and purity of tone, with such clarity of sound that one contemporary famously described it like "shooting bullets at a bell". His solos on seminal recordings such as "Singin' the Blues" and "I'm Coming, Virginia" (both 1927) demonstrate a gift for extended improvisation that heralded the jazz ballad style, in which jazz solos are an integral part of the composition. Moreover, his use of extended chords and an ability to improvise freely along harmonic as well as melodic lines are echoed in post-WWII developments in jazz. "In a Mist" (1927) is the best known of Beiderbecke's published piano compositions, and the only one that he recorded. His piano style reflects both jazz and classical (mainly impressionist) influences. All five of his piano compositions were published by Robbins Music during his lifetime. A native of Davenport, Iowa, Beiderbecke taught himself to play the cornet largely by ear, leading him to adopt a non-standard fingering technique that informed his unique style. Beiderbecke's most influential recordings date from his time with Goldkette and Whiteman, although he also recorded under his own name and that of Trumbauer's. The Whiteman period marked a precipitous decline in his health due to his increasing use of alcohol. Treatment for alcoholism in rehabilitation centers, with the support of Whiteman and the Beiderbecke family, failed to stop his decline. He left the Whiteman band in 1929 and in the summer of 1931 he died in his Sunnyside, Queens, New York apartment at the age of 28. Courtesy Wikipedia

Creator:
Stephen Longstreet
Creation Year:
1974
Dimensions:
Height: 32.5 in (82.55 cm)Width: 22.75 in (57.79 cm)
Medium:
Mixed Media
Movement & Style:
American Modern
Period:
1970-1979
Condition:
Gallery Location:
Fairlawn, OH
Reference Number:
Seller: FA101361stDibs: LU1407340802