"Flashes" is a 1931 jazz composition for solo piano by cornetist

Bix Beiderbecke Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke (March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931) was an American jazz cornetist, pianist and composer. Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s, a cornet player noted for an inventive lyrical app ...

. It is the third work in a series of four compositions for piano composed by Bix Beiderbecke during his career.

Background

Bix Beiderbecke did not record "Flashes" himself but copyrighted the composition on April 18, 1931, along with "In the Dark", also a piano work, as "A Modern Composition for the Piano". Bill Challis assisted with the transcription for piano. "Flashes was recorded by jazz pianist Jess Stacy on November 15, 1935. Jazz trumpeter Bunny Berigan recorded it in 1939 and released it as a 78 single on RCA Victor, 26121-A. In 2010, pianist Bryan Wright recorded the work on piano along with the three other piano compositions by Bix Beiderbecke, "In a Mist", "Candlelight", and "In the Dark". In 2020, Juliet Kurtzman and Pete Malinverni recorded an arrangement of "Flashes" for violin and piano on the album ''Candlelight: Love in the Time of Cholera''.

Notable recordings

The composition has been recorded by Jess Stacy, Bunny Berigan,

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, an ...

Dick Hyman Richard Hyman (born March 8, 1927) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Over a 70-year career, he has worked as a pianist, organist, arranger, music director, electronic musician, and composer. He was named a National Endowment for the Art ...

, Patrick Artero in 2006, Bernd Lhotzky, Bryan Wright,

Dill Jones Dillwyn Owen Paton "Dill" Jones (19 August 1923 – 22 June 1984), was a Welsh jazz stride pianist. Biography Jones was born in Newcastle Emlyn, Carmarthenshire, on 19 August 1923. He was brought up in New Quay on the Cardiganshire coast. Mus ...

, jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli on his 1986 Stash album ''Solo Flight'', Geff Muldaur in 2003, Helmut Nieberle in 2005, and Tony Caramia on the 2005 album ''Zebra Stripes''.

Album appearances

*Bix Beiderbecke: ''Bix Restored, Vol. 1'', Origin Records, 1995 *Bix Beiderbecke: ''In a Mist: His Best Works'', Definitive Classics, 2007 *Geoff Muldaur: Geoff Muldaur's Futuristic Ensemble: '' Private Astronomy: A Vision of the Music of Bix Beiderbecke'', Shefa, 2003 *Juliet Kurtzman and Pete Malinverni: ''Candlelight: Love in the Time of Cholera'', 2020

Sources

*Berton, Ralph. Remembering Bix. Harper & Row, 1974. *Castelli, Vittorio, Evert (Ted) Kaleveld, and Liborio Pusateri. The Bix Bands: A Bix Beiderbecke Disco-biography. Raretone, Milan, 1972. *Collins, David R. Bix Beiderbecke: Jazz Age Genius. Morgan Reynolds, Inc., Greensboro, North Carolina, 1998. *Evans, Philip R. and Linda K. Evans. Bix: The Leon Bix Beiderbecke Story. Bakersfield, Calif.: Prelike Press, 1998. . *Lastella, Aldo. "La vita e la leggenda di Bix Beiderbecke". Nuovi Equilibri S.R.L., Roma, 1991. {{authority control Instrumentals Compositions for solo piano 1931 songs