Bix Beiderbecke

On November 30 1928 in Cleveland Beiderbecke suffered what Lion terms "a severe nervous crisis" and Sudhalter and Evans suggest "was in all probability an acute attack of delirium tremens" presumably triggered by Beiderbecke's attempt to curb his alcohol intake. Unfortunately precise information has been forthcoming and we even know the day—August 7—when he passed away. Historians disagree over whether that is true.

The historical Beiderbecke meanwhile is the subject of scholarly controversy regarding his true name the cause of his death and the importance of his contributions to jazz. He left the Whiteman band in 1930 and the following summer died in his Queens apartment at the age of 28. "In a Mist" (1927) one of a handful of his piano compositions but the only one he recorded mixed classical influences with jazz syncopation.