Bix Beiderbecke, one of the great figures of early jazz as a cornetist and pianist/composer, recorded over 150 sides in his brief but precedent-setting career, yet only two of these were Gershwin pieces. These were “Sunny Disposish” (lyrics by Ira, music by Philip Charig, from the 1926 revue, Americana), which Bix played with Jean Goldkette’s Orchestra, and Concerto in F, brother George’s masterpiece, a Ferde Grofé version of which the Paul Whiteman Orchestra recorded during Bix’s tenure.

Bix’s brief recording career, from 1924 to 1930, took place when many of the greatest Gershwin songs were extant. He must have encountered them in the vast number of public appearances he made playing in dance halls, hotels, concerts and radio broadcasts. It is curious that there are only these recordings.

Speculating on how Bix might have dealt with other Gershwin tunes, Dick Hyman arranged many of the best known for a group of sympathetic players featuring the trumpeter/cornetist Randy Sandke, who emulates the Bix manner with startling fidelity. Beiderbecke was also an accomplished pianist, and Hyman himself is known for being able to replicate Bix’s keyboard style.