Honoring Beiderbecke—who is considered along with Louis Armstrongas one of the two most influential cornetists of the late-1920s—the concertalso served as an energetic kick-off for the Sunnyside Shines Business Im-provement District program that transforms 46th Street between QueensBoulevard and Greenpoint Avenue into a pedestrian mall on Saturday after-noons throughout the month of August.After tradition, the concert was opened by a performance from another

neighborhood musical institution, theSunnyside Drum Corps, and for thefirst time, included a dance recital fromSummer Stock For City Kids.With a crowd of hundreds gathered

around the bandstand, cornetist KirbyJolly—who plays professionally in theAmerican Concert Band—raised theband with a rendition “Fidgety Feet,”the first song that Beiderbecke everrecorded, as the youngsters from theSummer Stock troupe danced along.From there, the 15-piece band moved

through a series of period classics, in-cluding “Copenhagen” and “Toddlin’Blues,” tunes recorded by Beider-becke’s first group, the Wolverines, in1924. Later in the set, Dave Shenton,formerly a house musician at the famedAbbey Road studio in London, playedBeiderbecke’s technically demandingpiano solo from “In a Mist.”Halfway through the concert, Sunny-

side resident and trombonist Frank Pedulla took the baton from Jolly, leadingthe band through the evening’s conclusion.“We got a lot of nice feedback,” said event organizer Paul Maringelli, who

played drums. “A lot of people told me how nice it was to have live music, tohave such a professional band.”Maringelli, who has lived in Sunnyside for about 20 years, went on to pro-

vide a brief biography of Beiderbecke, and to share the story behind the firstmemorial concert in 2001.The musician, said Maringelli, was born in 1903 in Davenport, Iowa, where

he taught himself the cornet by ear.In 1923, Beiderbecke joined the Wolverines, a seven-man group that is

said to have played “hot jazz” out of a gangster’s hangout in Hamilton, Ohio,and later teamed up to record with Hoagy Carmichael.

The next year, Beiderbecke left the Wolverines for a gig with Jean Gold-kette in Detroit, and in 1925 recorded with a group known as Bix Beiderbecke

Bix Beiderbecke, circa 1924.

by Patrick ClarkMusicians, jazz lovers and passersby celebrated the life and

music of a local legend at the 10th annual Bix BeiderbeckeMemorial Jazz Concert in Sunnyside on Saturday, Aug. 7.

Sunnyside resident Paul Maringelli played drums at the 10th annual Bix Beiderbecke MemorialJazz Concert on Saturday, Aug. 7. Cornetist Kirby Jolly (second from left) and trombonist FrankPedulla (far right) took turns leading the band. (photo: Nicholas Biondo)

and His Rhythm Jugglers, which in-cluded Tommy Dorsey on trombone.Beiderbecke came to New York

with the Frankie Trambauer Orches-tra in 1927 and then hooked up withPaul Whiteman - one of the best-known bandleaders of the day.“For me, Bix was one of the

greats,” said Mike Ridley, a memberof the Cotton Club Orchestra who

played trumpet in Saturday’s concert.But Beiderbecke, who played on

four number-one records in 1928,battled an addiction to alcohol, andby 1930 had drank himself out of hisperforming career. After seekingtreatment back in Iowa, Beiderbeckereturned to NewYork, where he diedin his Sunnyside apartment in 1931.Though his career in music was

brief, Beiderbecke played with suchluminaries as Carmichael, Tommyand Jimmy Dorsey and Bing Crosby,and is said to have helped give BennyGoodman his start on the big stage.Maringelli had long known Bei-

derbecke’s playing, but it wasn’t untilhe saw the Ken Burns documentaryJazz that he discovered the cornetisthad lived—and died—in Sunnsyide.“I started asking around locally,

and I couldn’t find out where in theneighborhood he lived,” he said.So Maringelli widened the scope

of his search, tracking down Beider-becke’s great-nephew who in turncontacted a book-author who finallysupplied the address: 43-30 Bliss St.“I was shocked,” said Maringelli.

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UGUST 12, 2010

Concert Honors Bix BeiderbeckeCornetist, Pianist And Composer Lived In Sunnyside

Jazz lovers and passersby filled 46th Street between Queens Boulevard and Greenpoint Avenue forthe 10th annual Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Concert, which kicked off Sunnyside Shines Summer Street program, on Saturday, Aug. 7. (photo: Nicholas Biondo)

“I was shocked. All this time it was right across thestreet from my house, and I never knew it.”—Paul Maringelli, event organizer, commenting on the

location of Bix Beiderbecke’s Sunnyside residence.

“All this time it was right across thestreet from my house, and I neverknew it.”That year, Maringelli spearheaded

the first Beiderbecke memorial con-cert, inviting a lone trumpeter to play“Taps” in the courtyard of All SaintsChurch, which abuts the building inwhich the jazz-legend died.The memorial grew from there, as

Maringelli found funding to pay anincreasing number of musicians, andas the extended concerts attractedbigger crowds and wider attention.Last year, with the sponsorship of

the Kiwanis Club of Sunnyside, As-semblywoman Catherine Nolan andSunnyside Shines, the concert movedto its current venue on 46th Streetunder the Sunnyside Arch.“It’s not like I was ever the

biggest Bix fan in the world,” saidMaringelli. “It’s as if Louis Arm-strong died on your block, and theonly one who knew it was some guyin Nebraska. Bix died here and Iwanted people to know. Now it justkeeps growing, like it’s got a life ofits own.”