Whiteman was a generous man, as you say. He treated Bix as well as any man could, given the circumstances - and many another bandleader wouldn't have done that.

Incidentally, does anyone remember that great film "Pete Kelly's Blues", directed and starring Jack Webb of TV series "Dragnet" fame? It had Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgrald in it, among others. Gave an excellent portrayal of the sorts of band that Bix and others played in. The opening sequence of a New Orleans funeral, with the trumpet falling off the coffin, is matched by the end sequence in the empty ballroom, with a standoff between Webb and Ed O. Brien. Wish I had it on DVD...