Until his death at age 28, in 1931, Iowa cornetist Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke was the white, classically inspired and equally untrained hot-jazz counterpart to the dynamic Louis Armstrong. With his relaxed sound, midrange tonal preference and exquisite timing—both as singer and horn player—Beiderbecke embodied "cool" decades before it was invented, and he influenced virtually every trumpeter to follow during his stints with The Wolverines and Paul Whiteman.