Bix Beiderbecke recorded for just over six and a half years, from January 1924 til September 1930. He made an impression that has lasted for nearly a century. Louis Armstrong said of Bix, "Just that name alone will make one stand up -- also their ears! And when he played -- why the ears did the same thing!" Dick Sudhalter wrote a masterful biography of Beiderbecke in 1974. Bix: Man and Legend (co-written with Phillip R. Evans and William Dean Myatt) is required reading for anyone wishing to understand the development of jazz music in America. Bix's life was fictionalized in a romantic novel called Young Man With a Horn (1938), which was turned into a Hollywood bio-pic fantasy with Kirk Douglas (1950). And then guitarist Ry Cooder discovered Bix and arranged (with Joseph Byrd) three of his piano pieces for the 1978 album Jazz. There have been other books about Bix too.

Geoff Muldaur, who is a favourite in the Green Man Pub has long wanted to pay tribute to the genius of Bix Beiderbecke. Deutsche Grammophon has given him the opportunity. Private Astronomy is an album that seems to exist out of time. Beautifully recorded, and wonderfully performed this is some serious music here!

"Take Your Tomorrow (and Give Me Today)" was written by Andy Razaf and J.C. Johnson. Bix played a solo on the original recording by the Frank Trumbauer Orchestra. Muldaur sings lead vocals and plays glockenspiel in front of a collection of horns and winds (James O'Connor, trumpet; Dan Levine, trombone and tuba; Aaron Heick, alto sax; Charles Pillow, alto sax and clarinet; Jonathan Levine, tenor and baritone saxes, and bass clarinet) as well as Doug Wamble and Matt Munisteri (who plays a marvelous solo) on guitars and Greg Cophen on bass. AND a harmony trio of Muldaur, Loudon Wainwright III and Greg Prestopino. What a cool sound.

"In the Dark" is a moody piece, one of the piano compositions, here arranged for a chamber group; violin by Paul Woodiel, Mark Gould on cornet, Dan Levine on trombone, Ted Nash on alto sax and Jonathan Levine on bass clarinet. Muldaur did the arrangements. Joe Boyd appears on the recording as executive producer, and I'd have to say his presence is felt. Muldaur's take is similar to Cooder's in tone and feel, if not in instrumentation.

"There Ain't No Sweet Man That's Worth the Salt of My Tears" was a standout track on Norma Waterson's first solo album, and it appears here sung by Martha Wainwright. She doesn't have the years of experience behind her, but she pitches this song just perfectly. Bix had played it with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra with BING CROSBY on vocals! Imagine that!

"In A Mist" is a personal favourite of the piano pieces. The only one of the four piano pieces that Bix ever recorded, it is slow, and evocative. Beautiful and haunting. Beiderbecke rarely, if ever, practiced his cornet...he spent all his time playing the piano, fine-tuning these impressionistic melodies. Influenced by the compositions of Debussy and Ravel, Beiderbecke had higher ambitions than playing jazz. And yet his contribution to jazz was outstanding. His tone, and the volume he was able to achieve, his imagination in solos, and his respect for the melody lift him to the position he holds in jazz history. Bix does not appear on this album, but his influence is everywhere.

Peter Ecklund transcribed Bix's solo and Muldaur arranged it for violin and sax on the version of "Futuristic Rhythm" which appears here. "Davenport Blues" and "Flashes" will remind Cooder fans of the Jazz album. Geoff Muldaur's vocals throughout the album are charming and rooted in the past. "Waiting at the End of the Street" is warm and cozy. Loudon Wainwright III sings lead vocals on a rendition of "Bless You! Sister," as he's backed by the Harmony Girls (a vocal trio comprising his daughter Martha, and Muldaur's daughters Jenni and Clare.)

This is a delightful and surprising album. For those of you who admire Bix Beiderbecke, his ghost is on every track. But the flesh and blood musicians who play these adaptations, pay tribute to the past...but are live and vibrant. Kudos to Muldaur for his concept, arrangements and performances. He is staging a concert version of the album. Visit his Web site to see if he's coming near your hometown.