For the eleventh year in a row, I traveled to Davenport, Iowa for the Bix Beiderbecke Jazz Festival. This makes about 15 Bixes that I have attended, starting intermittently in 2001. One change in the format that was introduced last year and which I appreciated, was extending sets from 45 minutes to one hour (except Thursday evening, when they were 45 minutes). Also carried over from last year’s premiere was a three-hour (optional at extra cost) luncheon cruise on the Celebration Belle on the Mississippi, where one of the festival bands performed. This year it was the Jazz-O-Maniacs led by multi-instrumentalist TJ Muller.
The traditional gig, also optional, at the Knoxville Tap in nearby Milan, IL, again occurred on Wednesday evening. The Tap (which, curiously, only has bottled beer, none on “tap”) is an old roadhouse where visiting bands played back in the day. This year I arrived in time to attend, and it was an evening well spent. Music was provided by TJ Muller on banjo, guitar and trombone; Andy Schumm on clarinet, alto and cornet; Steve Pikal on bass; Michael McQuaid (from England) on clarinet and alto; Paul Asaro on piano, and Josh Duffee on drums. The $20 fee included a picnic-style meal, but drinks were extra. What I enjoyed, in addition to the music, was the fact that all the bar patrons kept quiet while the band played. I don’t know if there were people in the house who had not come for the music, but if there were, I compliment them on their decorum.
I arrived early and was assigned a seat at a table directly in front of the band. A little while later two women showed up and were assigned (condemned?) to be my tablemates. One of them recognized me, perhaps from often seeing my picture in this newspaper, the first of several such people I met during the weekend. Better here than in the post office, I always say. It was Sally Fee, whom I had met, along with her husband Mick, at French Quarter Fest in New Orleans five years ago. She and her friend Laura Wyman, a professional videographer, were attending the Bix for the first time, so she was happy to see someone she knew.
It wasn’t widely publicized, but I learned of a non-festival event on Thursday morning at which Josh Duffee gave a 90-minute talk on two local music celebrities—Bix and drummer Louie Bellson. Bellson’s centennial occurred on July 6; he died in 2009. Louie was born in Rock Falls, IL, but grew up in Moline where he’s buried. Josh knew Louie well and has done programs in his honor in the Quad Cities area and beyond. The talk was given on a mostly open small boat called the Channel Cat that docks in Moline and cruises on the Mississippi, but doesn’t go as far as the Celebration Belle, about which more below.
Between this program and the free one-hour afternoon concert at the Putnam Museum, I made my third or fourth visit to the Bix Museum. The museum was closed due to flooding during last year’s Bix. The Bix Society is looking for a new home for the museum to reduce or eliminate the risk of floods, and contributions are being solicited. The exhibits are always being expanded. While I can’t point specifically to anything I hadn’t seen there before, I noted this time some artifacts that had belonged to musicians Bix had played with, including trombonists Bill Rank and Spiegle Willcox, clarinetist Don Murray (whose life was even shorter than Bix’s), and drummer Chauncey Morehouse.
At the Putnam, Bix’s cornet is brought out from storage and played by a visiting horn player. This year it was Mike Davis from New York, whose New Wonders was one of the featured festival bands. I’ve watched Mike grow into one of the foremost Bix disciples since I met him while he was still a student at the Manhattan School of Music.
The main festival events began Thursday evening. It opened as usual with the Bix Youth Jazz Band. The band’s personnel changes every year as students graduate from local high schools, yet the quality of its music remains quite high, thanks in large measure to its director Steve Little. Steve played with a number of big bands such as Kay Kyser, Dick Jurgens, and Nelson Riddle and has a 55-year career as a musician and educator.
Here is the lineup of bands at this year’s Bix: the ever-present Chicago Cellar Boys, Mike Davis’s New Wonders, the El Dorado Jazz Band organized and led by Hal Smith, Paul Asaro and his Rhythm, TJ Muller’s Jazz-O-Maniacs, Josh Duffee’s Graystone Monarchs, and a new one to me, the Dooley Band. As usual, some musicians played with more than one band. There were also several non-leaders on hand, including multi-instrumentalists Colin Hancock and Matt Tolentino, and pianists Jeff Barnhart and David Boeddinghaus.
(Photo courtesy of CLORINDA)
The Dooley band from Chicago, it turns out, is a trio of brothers Mike and Jim Dooley and Jim’s daughter Claire. They create close three-part harmony reminiscent of the Rhythm Boys. That was reflected in their tune list: “Because My Baby Don’t Mean Maybe Now,” “Happy Feet,” and “Out of Town Gal.” Mike and Jim are also guitarists. Claire holds her own on vocals, as she recalls Connee Boswell. This family aggregation dates to 1967 when there were four brothers. This was their first appearance at the Bix, but mainly for scheduling reasons they only had one 15-minute set on Thursday evening, when the audience is always smaller than on Friday and Saturday. I enjoyed what little I heard of them.
The Cellar Boys had their regular personnel. The New Wonders had a few changes from the lineup that you’ll hear on their newest CD Steppin’ Out, which was reviewed in last month’s issue by Clorinda Nichols. Natalie Scharf was on reeds in place of Ricky Alexander, Sam Chess subbed for Josh Holcomb on trombone (Sam is also a sub in Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks), David Boeddinghaus filled in on the 88, Josh Duffee was on drums, and Andy Schumm was on banjo. Matt Tolentino replaced Jay Rattman on bass sax. I should mention that Matt’s sax was once owned by Adrian Rollini and is “autographed” by him.
The El Dorado band was put together for this festival to play the book of its predecessor which was based in southern California in the 50s and 60s. Hal Smith heard this band in his youth. He brought in Colin Hancock on cornet, Brandon Au on trombone, bassist Mikiya Matsuda, while Hal was on washboard instead of drums. Mikiya was new to me and did a creditable job.
Paul Asaro used three members of the Cellar Boys in his group (Schumm [this time on cornet and reeds], John Otto and Natalie Scharf) and added Jacob Alspach from St. Louis on guitar and drummer Gina DeGregorio. I had not heard the latter two, but enjoyed them. Gina is also an able vocalist and did a few duets with Paul.
(Photo courtesy of CLORINDA)
TJ Muller always puts together a standout group and the Jazz-O-Maniacs were no exception. They were: Dave Kosmyna on cornet, Colin Hancock on reeds, banjo and trombone, Mike McQuaid on reeds, Matt Tolentino on reeds and accordion, Steve Pikal on bass, Jeff Barnhart on piano, and Josh Duffee on drums. A smaller versions of this band played on Friday’s cruise, which sold out, but that crowd included some people not attending the festival. This is good in that they were exposed to what the festival offers, and perhaps some will attend next year. At my table was a local couple who had attended Bixes in the ’80s and ’90s but have not gone since it moved to the Rhythm City Casino. I hope I convinced them to return.
The Graystone Monarchs is always comprised of musicians on hand from other bands. This allows Josh to program some challenging arrangements, knowing his personnel—twelve this year—are up to the task. And they were, as usual.
The Bix Lives Award winner, begun in 2007, is always announced on Friday evening. This year it was Andy Schumm, who has joined the Bix Society board as musician advisor. Andy joins such luminaries as Dick Hyman, Randy Sandke, Josh Duffee, Vince Giordano, along with Bix scholar and researcher Dr. Albert Haim among the previous winners.
Saturday morning I attended the annual gravesite concert at Oakdale Cemetery. Colin Hancock led the band in this one-hour event, playing tunes recorded by Bix. Despite reasonably good (for Iowa) weather, the crowd seemed smaller than in previous years.
Some other noteworthy things or people I saw included Ida Melrose, the daughter of Kansas City music publisher Frank Melrose; he and his brother Walter brought out songs written by numerous famous ’20s and ’30s composers. Some of the musicians were happy to meet her….We were treated in several sets to compositions by Andy Schumm, most of which I had never heard….Then there was Gavin Rice sitting in with the Monarchs, playing a banjo that was used by Bob Gillett on Gennett recordings in 1924 by the Mound City Blue Blowers….Clorinda Nickols, the young student from Georgia who is a recent addition to TST’s stable of writers, was here and introduced herself to me.
In short, the consistent high quality of this festival is reason enough to come to Iowa in August.
