When you first meet the energetic, charming Josh Duffee, within five minutes you find yourself thinking: This man is sharp. This man is focused. This man came ready to play. And what he plays is jazz.
And he not only plays, but serves as bandleader and namesake to Josh Duffee & His Orchestra, which is making its fourth consecutive appearance at the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival, which will be held this weekend at various locations in Davenport. (See sidebar.)
And he's only 25 years old.
If Duffee's youth seems intimidating now, just imagine meeting him when he first formed his group at age 21.
After playing classical piano and drums in his early - well, earlier - years, Duffee found himself enticed by the work of jazz greats Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, and Jean Goldkette, whose rhythmic innovations made his orchestra the most popular dance band of its day. (Goldkette's group in 1926 featured Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Joe Venuti, and, yes, Bix Beiderbecke.) Duffee soon realized that a niche needed to be filled. "No one around here was doing the music that I wanted to do," Duffee says, revealing that his musical tastes had grown "very swing- and big-band-oriented. I thought, 'Boy, no one's doing that. I'd really like to do that kind of music.'
"So I formed my own big band. I had done a lot of gigs with musicians in the area, and I picked ones who had fun with the music and who I enjoyed playing with. So I called them up and said, 'Would you like to play for me?' And they're like, 'We'd love to do that.' This was music they hadn't ever done before."
In June of 2001, Duffee's newly organized group had its first public performance. "We put on about a two-hour show that night. I was in charge of everything ... did the publicity, did all the behind-the-scenes work. And I was thinking we'll have, like, 200 people out at the show, and we had over 600. They were dancing all night long and having a great time."
News about the newly formed orchestra quickly spread, but even after his band had established itself on the area scene, Duffee's youth was, for many, a bit of a shock. "They're hearing about us on AM 1270, they heard us on WKBF, there were ads out there, and people were coming out [after gigs] like, 'Where's the leader?' And they [the band members] were pointing to me, and I was only 21 at the time. So they're like, 'You're the leader?' They were very surprised."
Since then, Josh Duffee & His Orchestra has blossomed into one of the area's premier jazz organization, much to the delight - and delighted surprise - of patrons. Many, Duffee admits, "don't think we're for real. We get that with other bands when they come to the festival. They hear that there's a local band doing the Goldkette music and they probably think it's really watered-down or, to be frank, it sucks. But they come out and hear us and they're blown away, every year."
Duffee is understandably proud of his orchestra's accomplishments, but he's even more proud of the nature of the group itself. "This group is so diverse," he says. "The youngest person in my group is a senior in high school and the oldest person, I think, is 74." Duffee expresses pride that his orchestra also crosses social and gender lines. "I have a saxophone player who's a lady, my wife is the flute player, we have lady vocalists. We have different religions, different ethnicities, different races. And that's what makes my group so wonderful.
"And," he adds, "they sound great and they're having fun at the same time."
For more information on the festival, visit (http://www.bixsociety.org).
Band Schedule for the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival
Looking for your favorite Bix bands at your favorite Bix venues? Look no further.
Thursday, July 28:
Col Ballroom: The Bix Beiderbecke Youth Jazz Band (7:00 p.m.), Geoff Power's Classic Jazz Band (8:00 p.m.), Josh Duffee & His Orchestra (9:00 p.m.), the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Band (10:00 p.m.), the Natural Gas Jazz Band (11:00 p.m.).
Putnam Museum: Geoff Power's Classic Jazz Band (3:00 p.m.).
Friday, July 29:
LeClaire Park: Jean Kittrell's Rivermen (noon), Spats Langham & His Rhythm Boys (1:00 p.m.), the Independence Hall Jazz Band (2:00 p.m.), Geoff Power's Classic Jazz Band (3:00 p.m.), the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Band (4:00 p.m.), Josh Duffee & His Orchestra (7:00 p.m.), Jean Kittrell's Rivermen (8:00 p.m.), the Natural Gas Jazz Band (9:00 p.m.), the Independence Hall Jazz Band (10:00 p.m.), the West End Jazz Band (11:00 p.m.).
Holiday Inn: Ed Polcer's All Stars (noon), Josh Duffee & His Orchestra (1:00 p.m.), the Night Blooming Jazzmen (2:00 p.m.), the Natural Gas Jazz Band (3:00 p.m.), the West End Jazz Band (4:00 p.m.), Jazz Clinic with Ed Polcer's All Stars (5:00 p.m.), the Bix Beiderbecke Youth Jazz Band (7:00 p.m.), Geoff Power's Classic Jazz Band (8:00 p.m.), Ed Polcer's All Stars (9:00 p.m.), the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Band (10:00 p.m.), Spats Langham & His Rhythm Boys (11:00 p.m.).
Col Ballroom: Night Blooming Jazzmen (7:00 p.m.), the Independence Hall Jazz Band (8:00 p.m.), the Bix Beiderbecke Youth Jazz Band (9:00 p.m.), Jean Kittrell's Rivermen (10:00 p.m.), Ed Polcer's All Stars (11:00 p.m.).
Danceland: the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Band (7:00 p.m.), the West End Jazz Band (8:00 p.m.), Night Blooming Jazzmen (9:00 p.m.), Geoff Power's Classic Jazz Band (10:00 p.m.), the Natural Gas Jazz Band (11:00 p.m.).
Saturday, July 30:
LeClaire Park: 102 Trumpets (11:00 a.m.), the West End Jazz Band (noon), Jean Kittrell's Rivermen (1:00 p.m.), the Bix Beiderbecke Youth Jazz Band (2:00 p.m.), the Natural Gas Jazz Band (3:00 p.m.), Night Blooming Jazzmen (4:00 p.m.), the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Band (7:00 p.m.), Spats Langham & His Rhythm Boys (8:00 p.m.), Ed Polcer's All Stars (9:00 p.m.), Night Blooming Jazzmen (10:00 p.m.), Geoff Power's Classic Jazz Band (11:00 p.m.).
Holiday Inn: Ed Polcer's All Stars (noon), the Independence Hall Jazz Band (1:00 p.m.), Night Blooming Jazzmen (2:00 p.m.), the West End Jazz Band (3:00 p.m.), Spats Langham & His Rhythm Boys (4:00 p.m.), Night Blooming Jazzmen (7:00 p.m.), Jean Kittrell's Rivermen (8:00 p.m.), the Bix Beiderbecke Youth Jazz Band (9:00 p.m.), the Natural Gas Jazz Band (10:00 p.m.), the West End Jazz Band (11:00 p.m.).
Col Ballroom: Josh Duffee & His Orchestra (7:00 p.m.), the Natural Gas Jazz Band (8:00 p.m.), the West End Jazz Band (9:00 p.m.), the Independence Hall Jazz Band (10:00 p.m.), Spats Langham & His Rhythm Boys (11:00 p.m.).
Danceland: the Bix Beiderbecke Youth Jazz Band (7:00 p.m.), the Independence Hall Jazz Band (8:00 p.m.), Josh Duffee & His Orchestra (9:00 p.m.), Jean Kittrell's Rivermen (10:00 p.m.), Ed Polcer's All Stars (11:00 p.m.).
Oakdale Cemetery: the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Band (10:00 a.m.)
VanderVeer Park: Jean Kittrell's Rivermen (5:00 p.m.), the Independence Hall Jazz Band (6:00 p.m.).
Bettendorf Middle Park: the West End Jazz Band (6:00 p.m.), Geoff Power's Classic Jazz Band (7:15 p.m.).
Sunday, July 31:
First Presbyterian Church of Davenport: the Night Blooming Jazzmen (8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.).
Radisson Hotel: the Natural Gas Jazz Band (10:00 a.m.), Geoff Power's Classic Jazz Band (11:30 a.m.).
Figge Art Museum: Spats Langham & His Rhythm Boys (11:00 a.m.)
LeClaire Park: Jean Kittrell's Rivermen (noon), the Natural Gas Jazz Band (1:00 p.m.), the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Band (2:00 p.m.), Spats Langham & His Rhythm Boys (3:00 p.m.), Ed Polcer's All Stars (4:00 p.m.)
Holiday Inn: the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Band (9:00 a.m.), the West End Jazz Band (10:00 a.m.), the Independence Hall Jazz Band (11:00 a.m.), Spats Langham & His Rhythm Boys (7:00 p.m.), Josh Duffee & His Orchestra (8:00 p.m.), Ed Polcer's All Stars (9:00 p.m.).
And he not only plays, but serves as bandleader and namesake to Josh Duffee & His Orchestra, which is making its fourth consecutive appearance at the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival, which will be held this weekend at various locations in Davenport. (See sidebar.)
And he's only 25 years old.
If Duffee's youth seems intimidating now, just imagine meeting him when he first formed his group at age 21.
After playing classical piano and drums in his early - well, earlier - years, Duffee found himself enticed by the work of jazz greats Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, and Jean Goldkette, whose rhythmic innovations made his orchestra the most popular dance band of its day. (Goldkette's group in 1926 featured Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Joe Venuti, and, yes, Bix Beiderbecke.) Duffee soon realized that a niche needed to be filled. "No one around here was doing the music that I wanted to do," Duffee says, revealing that his musical tastes had grown "very swing- and big-band-oriented. I thought, 'Boy, no one's doing that. I'd really like to do that kind of music.'
"So I formed my own big band. I had done a lot of gigs with musicians in the area, and I picked ones who had fun with the music and who I enjoyed playing with. So I called them up and said, 'Would you like to play for me?' And they're like, 'We'd love to do that.' This was music they hadn't ever done before."
In June of 2001, Duffee's newly organized group had its first public performance. "We put on about a two-hour show that night. I was in charge of everything ... did the publicity, did all the behind-the-scenes work. And I was thinking we'll have, like, 200 people out at the show, and we had over 600. They were dancing all night long and having a great time."
News about the newly formed orchestra quickly spread, but even after his band had established itself on the area scene, Duffee's youth was, for many, a bit of a shock. "They're hearing about us on AM 1270, they heard us on WKBF, there were ads out there, and people were coming out [after gigs] like, 'Where's the leader?' And they [the band members] were pointing to me, and I was only 21 at the time. So they're like, 'You're the leader?' They were very surprised."
Since then, Josh Duffee & His Orchestra has blossomed into one of the area's premier jazz organization, much to the delight - and delighted surprise - of patrons. Many, Duffee admits, "don't think we're for real. We get that with other bands when they come to the festival. They hear that there's a local band doing the Goldkette music and they probably think it's really watered-down or, to be frank, it sucks. But they come out and hear us and they're blown away, every year."
Duffee is understandably proud of his orchestra's accomplishments, but he's even more proud of the nature of the group itself. "This group is so diverse," he says. "The youngest person in my group is a senior in high school and the oldest person, I think, is 74." Duffee expresses pride that his orchestra also crosses social and gender lines. "I have a saxophone player who's a lady, my wife is the flute player, we have lady vocalists. We have different religions, different ethnicities, different races. And that's what makes my group so wonderful.
"And," he adds, "they sound great and they're having fun at the same time."
For more information on the festival, visit (http://www.bixsociety.org).
Band Schedule for the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival
Looking for your favorite Bix bands at your favorite Bix venues? Look no further.
Thursday, July 28:
Col Ballroom: The Bix Beiderbecke Youth Jazz Band (7:00 p.m.), Geoff Power's Classic Jazz Band (8:00 p.m.), Josh Duffee & His Orchestra (9:00 p.m.), the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Band (10:00 p.m.), the Natural Gas Jazz Band (11:00 p.m.).
Putnam Museum: Geoff Power's Classic Jazz Band (3:00 p.m.).
Friday, July 29:
LeClaire Park: Jean Kittrell's Rivermen (noon), Spats Langham & His Rhythm Boys (1:00 p.m.), the Independence Hall Jazz Band (2:00 p.m.), Geoff Power's Classic Jazz Band (3:00 p.m.), the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Band (4:00 p.m.), Josh Duffee & His Orchestra (7:00 p.m.), Jean Kittrell's Rivermen (8:00 p.m.), the Natural Gas Jazz Band (9:00 p.m.), the Independence Hall Jazz Band (10:00 p.m.), the West End Jazz Band (11:00 p.m.).
Holiday Inn: Ed Polcer's All Stars (noon), Josh Duffee & His Orchestra (1:00 p.m.), the Night Blooming Jazzmen (2:00 p.m.), the Natural Gas Jazz Band (3:00 p.m.), the West End Jazz Band (4:00 p.m.), Jazz Clinic with Ed Polcer's All Stars (5:00 p.m.), the Bix Beiderbecke Youth Jazz Band (7:00 p.m.), Geoff Power's Classic Jazz Band (8:00 p.m.), Ed Polcer's All Stars (9:00 p.m.), the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Band (10:00 p.m.), Spats Langham & His Rhythm Boys (11:00 p.m.).
Col Ballroom: Night Blooming Jazzmen (7:00 p.m.), the Independence Hall Jazz Band (8:00 p.m.), the Bix Beiderbecke Youth Jazz Band (9:00 p.m.), Jean Kittrell's Rivermen (10:00 p.m.), Ed Polcer's All Stars (11:00 p.m.).
Danceland: the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Band (7:00 p.m.), the West End Jazz Band (8:00 p.m.), Night Blooming Jazzmen (9:00 p.m.), Geoff Power's Classic Jazz Band (10:00 p.m.), the Natural Gas Jazz Band (11:00 p.m.).
Saturday, July 30:
LeClaire Park: 102 Trumpets (11:00 a.m.), the West End Jazz Band (noon), Jean Kittrell's Rivermen (1:00 p.m.), the Bix Beiderbecke Youth Jazz Band (2:00 p.m.), the Natural Gas Jazz Band (3:00 p.m.), Night Blooming Jazzmen (4:00 p.m.), the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Band (7:00 p.m.), Spats Langham & His Rhythm Boys (8:00 p.m.), Ed Polcer's All Stars (9:00 p.m.), Night Blooming Jazzmen (10:00 p.m.), Geoff Power's Classic Jazz Band (11:00 p.m.).
Holiday Inn: Ed Polcer's All Stars (noon), the Independence Hall Jazz Band (1:00 p.m.), Night Blooming Jazzmen (2:00 p.m.), the West End Jazz Band (3:00 p.m.), Spats Langham & His Rhythm Boys (4:00 p.m.), Night Blooming Jazzmen (7:00 p.m.), Jean Kittrell's Rivermen (8:00 p.m.), the Bix Beiderbecke Youth Jazz Band (9:00 p.m.), the Natural Gas Jazz Band (10:00 p.m.), the West End Jazz Band (11:00 p.m.).
Col Ballroom: Josh Duffee & His Orchestra (7:00 p.m.), the Natural Gas Jazz Band (8:00 p.m.), the West End Jazz Band (9:00 p.m.), the Independence Hall Jazz Band (10:00 p.m.), Spats Langham & His Rhythm Boys (11:00 p.m.).
Danceland: the Bix Beiderbecke Youth Jazz Band (7:00 p.m.), the Independence Hall Jazz Band (8:00 p.m.), Josh Duffee & His Orchestra (9:00 p.m.), Jean Kittrell's Rivermen (10:00 p.m.), Ed Polcer's All Stars (11:00 p.m.).
Oakdale Cemetery: the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Band (10:00 a.m.)
VanderVeer Park: Jean Kittrell's Rivermen (5:00 p.m.), the Independence Hall Jazz Band (6:00 p.m.).
Bettendorf Middle Park: the West End Jazz Band (6:00 p.m.), Geoff Power's Classic Jazz Band (7:15 p.m.).
Sunday, July 31:
First Presbyterian Church of Davenport: the Night Blooming Jazzmen (8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.).
Radisson Hotel: the Natural Gas Jazz Band (10:00 a.m.), Geoff Power's Classic Jazz Band (11:30 a.m.).
Figge Art Museum: Spats Langham & His Rhythm Boys (11:00 a.m.)
LeClaire Park: Jean Kittrell's Rivermen (noon), the Natural Gas Jazz Band (1:00 p.m.), the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Band (2:00 p.m.), Spats Langham & His Rhythm Boys (3:00 p.m.), Ed Polcer's All Stars (4:00 p.m.)
Holiday Inn: the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Band (9:00 a.m.), the West End Jazz Band (10:00 a.m.), the Independence Hall Jazz Band (11:00 a.m.), Spats Langham & His Rhythm Boys (7:00 p.m.), Josh Duffee & His Orchestra (8:00 p.m.), Ed Polcer's All Stars (9:00 p.m.).
