There are many quotations from famous people that try to get at the essence of this human quality called "genius". Three that I like are:
"Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains" --Thomas Carlyle
"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration" --John Dryden
"Nobody in the game of football should be called a genius. A genius is somebody like Norman Einstein" --Joe Theisman
For me, a genius is exemplified by Beethoven, who composed such incredibly beautiful music when he was deaf!
Bix was among us for such a brief time that a mystique grew up around him, in a manner similar to James Dean, Clifford Brown, Bunny Berigan, and Charlie Parker to name just a few. He was not extensively photographed or filmed. His recordings were few, compared with others, and his solos brief but spectacular. He was the F. Scott Fitzgerald of music. He blazed through our skies like a meteor and was gone. Now, we want to squeeze every last drop of greatness from his memory so that we can examine it and reach some unreachable conclusion. We try to explain the unexplainable, because we're only human. As was Bix.
Jim