Phil Evans Legendary Collection Of Bix Beiderbecke

[Scott Black]

Just an update..

As many folks out there may know, I've been taking the late Phil Evans legendary collection and making it digital. You have no idea of how massive this collection is. Even I didn't, and I knew his collection better anyone else could have. I've been making a couple of trips a year for nine years now by plane, bringing back as much as I could on each trip. I went out last May to bring what I thought was the last of his 50 years of research on Bix Beiderbecke. Phil's widow Linda, mentioned that I should check his storage unit out in the desert "Just in case" some of his work could have been put in there.
There was. Over 30 boxes that had been sealed since the 1960's. It took a small van to bring everything back here. What was once my music room is now a room that I can take two steps into, from there on it's boxes up to my chin.
The reason I'm posting this is because I just added a sort of annex to my CD label at Kazoolips.com as a tribute to Phil. It's six pages so far, and I plan to add pages at least a couple times a week. Lots of things to look at. Some you've seen before, and others that you haven't. I'm trying to present it in a fashion that would make the novice interested as well as the fanatics. Some things are being kept for the final book, of course. But I've added a few new things that I've discovered over the years as well. One that should raise a few eyebrows is the photo I found of Bix from 1931, about four months before his death. He looks great!
Bix has been used and abused for so many years by so many, that trying to get a clear picture presented to folks is almost impossible! They refuse to believe that all of the rubbish stories about his family, love life, etc., are just that, rubbish.
Oh well. This project is being done for future generations to use and to judge for themselves. Making over 1000 hours of reel-to-reel interviews and some 10,000 letters, along with the other paperwork, and turning it into digital is not the easiest thing to do.
About three months ago I quit working with Redbone after over a quarter of a century. Since there have been no calls to play anywhere, I've just been working on sound restoration and archiving. I guess it's time to put away the cornet and move on. Can't complain, I had a pretty good run there for many years.
So, if you're interested, check out some of the items from Phil's collection. It's really time that the guy got his due.

Best to All,
Scott Black