Frank Trumbauer & Bix Beiderbecke: Singin' the Blues

Bix needed Louis (at least in retrospect) to define his style; he needed Trumbauer just to get through the day. The straight-and-narrow saxman, known to his friends as Tram, was the source of personal and professional stability for Bix, and when the two finally hooked up in the studio, they produced a masterpiece. Its easy to forget that Trumbauers solo, which opens the number with unprecedented lyricism, was as important in its time as Bixs. Trumbauer always told a little story, Lester Young explained. It was not about dancing, in other words, or virtuosity; it was about feeling. When Bix chimes in, jazz changed forever. Here was jazzs first balladeer. His solo, though improvised, feels like a finished composition restrained, precise, and governed by melody instead of chord changes and tempo.