# Who's the greatest cornet player? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 1, 2012, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-greatest-cornet-player/617523 "2012-04-01T23:22:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-greatest-cornet-player/617523/1 "2012-04-01T23:22:34Z")
Trumpet ability nonwithstanding. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-greatest-cornet-player/617523/2 "2012-04-01T23:23:53Z")
[This guy](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://photo-dictionary.com/photofiles/list/597/993icecream_cone.jpg&imgrefurl=http://photo-dictionary.com/phrase/597/ice-cream-cone.html&h=700&w=526&sz=66&tbnid=b_NQTFVGhZTubM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=68&zoom=1&docid=WPAjbopobMScMM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=aON4T9XPLsifiQLPrNmnDg&ved=0CC4Q9QEwAQ&dur=994). ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-greatest-cornet-player/617523/3 "2012-04-01T23:32:43Z")
Kix Keiderbecke? ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-greatest-cornet-player/617523/4 "2012-04-03T13:57:58Z")
Bix and then some. Louis didn’t mature until he switched to trumpet. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-greatest-cornet-player/617523/5 "2012-04-03T14:14:31Z")
Bix was the _king_, even Louis Armstrong admitted that. Before I had ever heard his name, I listened to one of his recordings and thought, “goodness, who \*is \*that?” Plus, he drank himself to death by age 30, which I feel shows a real dedication and stick-to-it-ivenss. I also want to add the great, forgotten **Valaida Snow** –I have a collection of her on my iPod, and she could play the horn \*and \*sing. Brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-greatest-cornet-player/617523/6 "2012-04-03T15:35:52Z")
So Chuck Mangione won’t win the thread? ::d&r:: (I kid; I am a Bix man as well…) ---
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-greatest-cornet-player/617523/7 "2012-04-03T15:50:41Z")
Lawrence “Butch” Morris ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-greatest-cornet-player/617523/8 "2012-04-03T16:05:54Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Kix Keiderbecke? He’s good, but everybody knows that Kix is for kids. > [@WordMan](#): > > So Chuck Mangione won’t win the thread? No, because I’m a native Rochesterian and I still don’t know what a flugelhorn is. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-greatest-cornet-player/617523/9 "2012-04-03T18:44:03Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > He’s good, but everybody knows that Kix is for kids. > > No, because I’m a native Rochesterian and I still don’t know what a flugelhorn is. Shoot - that’s right; flugelhorn. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-greatest-cornet-player/617523/10 "2012-04-03T19:54:38Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Kix Keiderbecke? Bix Beiderbecke. So I checked off ‘Somebody Else’. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-greatest-cornet-player/617523/11 "2012-04-04T13:01:59Z")
I’m sorry for not including Bix. It was my first poll. I love Bix. And, Eve, I will look up Valaida Snow, as I have none of her music. I have plenty of Bix and Louis. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-greatest-cornet-player/617523/12 "2012-04-04T13:26:41Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > And, Eve, I will look up Valaida Snow, as I have none of her music. I have plenty of Bix and Louis. You \*must \*hear her version of “I Can’t Dance, I Got Ants In My Pants.” ---
**Author:** ![Mllz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Mllz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mllz)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-greatest-cornet-player/617523/13 "2012-04-04T15:06:52Z")
For me, I’ll have to go with Don Cherry. But that’s at least partially because I consider Armstrong to be as much a trumpet player as cornet. And that, shamefully, I have only passing familiarity with the others on the list. So it’s really just that if you asked me to name a cornet player prior to seeing this thread, Cherry is the only one I’d come up with. But I think he’s pretty excellent, and as such I’ll stand by it for now! ---
**Author:** ![C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C.Montgomery_Burns)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-greatest-cornet-player/617523/14 "2012-04-06T15:58:05Z")
Bix Beiderbecke was the greatest. He had a clear tone that no one else had. Really something special. King Oliver is a very close second for being so inventive and influential- he was a mentor and father figure to Louis Armstrong.