Frank Trumbauer & Bix Beiderbecke: Way Down Yonder in New Orleans

Compared to Im Coming, Virginia, Way Down Yonder in New Orleans is all light and Caravaggio. Its cheerful, down-tempo, even a bit wandering, taking its time to transition from Trams more languid sax to Bixs brighter cornet. A bit more than halfway through his solo, Bix scoots up to a C-sharp, the highest note he ever recorded. This is the exception that proves the rule: Bix, whose mangled fingerings were of his own devising, liked to augment his chords but not the range of his instrument. Think of him as the playwright who creates tension by confining all the action inside a single, cramped apartment.