Author: Professor M

Probably one of the most beloved recordings of Bix Beiderbecke from the Goldkette era.

In Richard Sudhalter and Philip Evans’s book, Bix: Man & Legend, they describes the recording session in detail:

“…the Goldkette band met at Liederkranz Hall to record one last time for Victor. The mood, Doc Ryker recalled, was far from what could have been expected from a lame-duck aggregation. ‘On the contrary, all the boys felt they wanted to get something really good down on record, something that’d show the band at its best,’ he said. They had tried twice now to do just that, both times thwarted by last-minute directives from on high. This time, as things turned out, was different. One of the two numbers they were scheduled to do was a bouncy tune called ‘Clementine (from New Orleans),’ working from a published “stock” orchestration. With Bill Challis gone, a custom-tailored score was out of the question. But everyone, Doc Ryker said, had suggestions for small alterations which would turn the stock into something special.

‘We rehearsed quite awhile before we did it,’ Ryker said, ‘I sent the brass section out to one room, the saxes to another, to work out their choruses. I think, in fact, that they went to the ladies’ room.’ The result was a pasteup job based only loosely on the origional, with bits and pieces by Tram, Murray, and Howdy incorporated. It featured a three-part sax section chorus, giving way to Bix’s longest solo on any Goldkette recording – a full chorus over sustained band chords, with Venuti taking the release.

By any standard, ‘Clementine’ is an extraordinary record, and a departure from all Goldkette Victor performances before it. The band, lifted by Lang’s guitar, sings along with a freshness and rich tonal balance rare on any recording of the 1920s and a rhythmic relaxation looking a good decade into the future. Bix fills in during the ensembles with the charm of a highspirited schoolboy, and his solo, simple in construction, refashions a new tune out of the old with the same natural grace which turned ‘Singin’ the Blues’ into a piece of jazz history.

Truly, said Ryker, a record to remember. ‘You bet,’ Rank added, ‘It was undoubtedly the best record we ever made. It should have been, because it took us all day. Everyone contributed to it as we went along. It was our last will and testament – and a great one at that.”

I’ve had a domestic Victor copy of this tune for some time, but in lesser condition. This pristine Argentinian pressing on the Victor label is a reissue from 1936, showing that even in its time, this recording was already acknowledged as a classic worth hearing again around the world.

0:00 Intro
0:32 Trombone (Bill Rank)
0:55 Call and Response with Eddie Lang
1:15 Reeds (Murray, Ryker, Tram)
1:59 Cornet (Bix)
2:20 Violin (Venuti)
2:31 Cornet (Bix)
2:42 Outro

Recorded in New York City on September 15, 1927.
Released in Argentina as Victor 25283 (mid 30s pressing)
Originally released in the U.S. as Victor 20994.

Credits
Bix Beiderbecke – cornet
Fuzzy Farrar, Ray Lodwig – trumpet
Bill Rank, Lloyd Turner – trombone
Don Murray – clarinet, baritone sax
Doc Ryker – alto sax
Frank Trumbauer – C-melody sax
Joe Venuti – violin
Eddie Lang – guitar
Itzy Riskin – piano
Howdy Quicksell – banjo
Steve Brown – string bass
Chauncey Morehouse – drums

Sources:
Jazz and Ragtime Records (1897-1942), Brian Rust, 6th Ed.
Bix: Man & Legend, Richard M. Sudhalter & Philip R. Evans, Quartet Books Ltd, 1974, p.211-212