Bix
Canadian artist Scott Chantler’s new graphic novel follows a legendary American musician’s rise and fall during the Jazz Age.
Born in Davenport, Iowa, Leon Bismark “Bix” Beiderbecke was a musical prodigy and indifferent student who made his way to the cities early, and played for several well-known dance bands. Beiderbecke gained fame as a coronet player whose improvisations merited comparison with Louis Armstrong, and he was also an accomplished pianist and composer. Beiderbecke’s fame peaked in his mid-twenties. He died near the onset of the Great Depression, at the age of 28. His life is a template for the familiar tale of a great but flawed artist who dies young. The movie Young Man with a Horn, starring Kirk Douglas, is also loosely based on Beiderbecke’s life.
Chantler’s Bix is a sad and strangely musical tale, employing a somber palette of greenish blues and grays. His hero isn’t good with people, and his moments of joy are almost all associated with listening to or playing music. The story resembles a good silent movie. It hits emotional peaks and depths with almost no word balloons at all. Five sections cover the artist’s early years, his romantic life, his rising musical star, his peak with the Paul Whiteman orchestra, and his sad losing battle with the booze. Each section bears the title of one of Bix’s compositions.
Bix contains many memorable and poignant moments. Panels dance across the page like bursts of orchestral music, or in strings of images haunting as an instrumental solo. The book’s final sequence is a sad and masterful thing, mixing panels of Bix on his deathbed with panels containing images of people who loved him, and his memories of moments of happiness and joy. Lovers of music and jazz will very likely love this book.
