Bix House Musicians Discuss Home History, Renovation Plans

Friday, July 31st, was the second day of the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz festival. But for a select group of musicians in the festival it was a day of wild anticipation. The group had a secondary agenda that day, and that was a real estate closing. Sometime mid-set, the word reached them…they were now home owners! And the home in question was on the minds many of the festival attendees. In fact it had been for many festivals past.

1934 Grand Avenue in Davenport, IA, is a large Queen Anne Victorian style house. The Real Estate listing said it was built in 1900 (although many believe it was built about 6 years earlier). Most of us know it as The Bix House—The home where the legend was born and grew up. Since the 1990s it had been owned by Filmmaker Giuseppe “Pupi” Avati, who used it in the 1991 biopic Bix—A Legendary Hypothesis. After some renovations in the early ’90s, Avati moved back to Italy. A secretary came to the house every day and basic yard work and snow removal was done. Sadly she died about 10 years ago and the house which even at that time needed a new coat of paint and other exterior work was not looked after.

This past April the house was listed for sale. “Here is your chance to own the Historic childhood home of Davenport’s own Bix Beiderbecke…” began the listing. “3,205 square feet; 4 bedrooms; 2 baths; Central A/C…” It contained the usual photo tour aimed at a home buyer. The ad was posted to several Bix and Hot Jazz sites on social media and a substantial number of comments were made– positive and negative.

Among those concerned for the future of the Bix House was Josh Duffee, who had been seeking some way to finance and preserve the house for many years. After discussions had happened over the course of the Spring and Summer a new “Band” was organized with the conviction of gathering enough money to buy the house outright. Josh combined with Andy Schumm and his wife Jenny Vidal Schumm, TJ Muller, Colin Hancock, Mike Davis and Andrew Oliver pooled some money together and bought the Bix house under the name Bix House Band, LLC.

“This is just the beginning,” said Schumm, “There is so much work that needs to be done.”

Josh Duffee added “We are ready to make this happen for Bix. For many, many years I have been working tirelessly to try to help save this house. For years I was asked to start a GoFundMe page to raise money to help repair the house and the problem was the Avati Brothers…it would have been a blank check for them and they would have said ‘Thank you Very Much’ and that would have been the end of it. Now WE have control of the house. And those of you who have been waiting all these years, Now is the time. We have so many great plans for the house and for the city. We have already been talking with the City Administrator and with the Mayor so this is moving right along. The Phrase ‘Bix Lives’ is very much true with everybody here because we all worked hard to make this happen.”

Colin Hancock continued: “It’s really been a thrill to have worked with some of my best friends to procure the house. Bix is the reason for me, personally, why I got into this music in the first place and it’s probably the same for all of us up here. It seemed like an impossible task. And I recall in past festivals, going by the house and seeing it in the state it was in and hearing ‘Oh Somebody needs to do something about that’ for years, but getting a group of people together, who when the moment happened…was an amazing thing. Now that we’ve done it there is a lot of work that needs to happen. It’s going to take a village.”

Immediately after the announcement was made on Saturday night, Jenny set up a table in the back of the auditorium with information about donating. Not surprising several donations were made that night and are continuing to come in.

When asked about what the house will be used for Josh Duffee said “We can’t turn it into a museum because of zoning restrictions. But we can have events at it. We are looking into the possibility of a recording studio and a resource center on Bix. And the City is very open to us presenting concerts in Tyler Park across the street.

Immediate concerns are a new roof (a costly proposition due to the many gables). Also the attic needs to be secured from wildlife including the removal of a raccoon carcass.

“The house is in good shape structurally” said Andy Schumm. His father, Wayne, an Engineer, looked over the house’s frame, joists and trusses—pronouncing them OK. Coincidentally, another member of the family, Jenny’s mother Marlene, has experience in fundraising and grant writing. Jenny’s experience in the legal field helped the group navigate some roadblocks. It really is an “All Hands On Deck” project. “Sweat Equity is 100 percent.”

Financial matters are being handled by Andrew Oliver. Colin Hancock will oversee the website and internet promotion. Mike Davis envisions a book dedicated to the house and its history. Regular tasks of clean up and repair will be a up to TJ Muller, Josh, and Andy and everyone else when they have time.

“There is a lot of stuff we need to go through both in the attic and elsewhere.” said Schumm. “There are props from the movie in the attic. In the buffet cabinet in the dining room there are photo albums of the house and the renovations done in the 1990s. We want to preserve the history of the house and that includes the years between after the Beiderbecke family sold it up to when we bought it.”

Schumm went on further to say that a former resident who lived in the house in the 1960s congratulated them and said she would share some photos of it.

And, in addition to the movie props, a box with 35mm film cans turned up, as well as several VHS videotapes.

“Our goal is to help humanize Bix. To focus on his life and his music. We hope this might excise some of the Myth around him. We want to encourage research. And we want that to include the music Bix played and recorded, but also the music that influenced him.”

Andrew Oliver, who is not only overseeing the money for the Band, is a city planner by day. He has already met with the Davenport city planning manager and the result was some good ideas to pursue going forward.

“The City is excited,” said Schumm, “They want to see our project succeed.”

For the time being finding funds to make necessary repairs and clean-ups are most critical. The Bix House Band LLC is a for-profit entity. It is currently not 501(c)3 certified so any donations made currently are not tax deductible. According to Schumm there is a reason for this that has to do with Matching funds and grants available from the state. He said should an advantage arise to change the status that will yield more funds the Band will make those changes.

In closing, Andy shared “I don’t believe in ghosts but something odd happened Wednesday (July 29) when were playing The Putnam. I was playing Bix’s cornet and right when we came to the solo one of the valves stuck. I grabbed my horn to finish it.”

The Ghost Of Bix perhaps, showing his support for one of the new owners of his old house?

Those who want to help preserve and restore the Bix House may contribute via Venmo or Paypal through the website www.bixhouse.com. To donate by check, please write to Bix House Band LLC; 7320 SE Insley Street; Portland, OR 97206. For more information, email: bixhousebandllc@gmail.com.

Giuseppe Avati’s film: Bix—A Legendary Hypothesis can be viewed on YouTube and other streaming services. It is in Italian. English subtitles can be activated as you view it.