“Bix Beiderbecke & Gennett Records" at the Davenport Public Library Eastern Avenue Branch -- March 9.
Saturday, March 9, 1:30 p.m.
Davenport Public Library Eastern Avenue Branch, 6000 Eastern Avenue, Davenport IA
In a program offered through a partnership with the Bix Beiderbecke Museum & Archive, patrons of the Davenport Public Library's Eastern Avenue Branch are invited to celebrate 100 years of record music through conversations with Dr. Charlie B. Dahan and Bob Jacobsen in Bix Beiderbecke & Gennett Records, a March 9 event held in honor of the 121st anniversary of the jazz great's birth.
Jazz cornetist and local legend Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke was born on March 10, 1903, and lived at 1934 Grand Avenue in Davenport. His father was manager of the East Davenport Lumber and Coal Company, while his mother was a musician who played piano and the organist for the First Presbyterian Church. Bix attended Davenport High School in 1918 until 1920, and the following September, he was enrolled in Lake Forest Academy, though he was eventually expelled.
As a musician, Bix's first gig was in 1921 at Hayne's Dancing School under his own name, The Beiderbecke Five. After leaving Lake Forest, he played with several bands around Chicago and Davenport, joining the Wolverine Orchestra in 1924. When he was only 24, Bix was making more than $200 a week – quite a princely sum in the 1920s. In October of 1924, Bix left The Wolverines and joined The Jean Goldkette Orchestra, and after returning to Davenport and briefly attending the University of Iowa in 1925, he began to play with jazz great Jean Goldkette. In October of 1927, Bix joined Paul Whiteman. bandleader for the Whiteman Orchestra -- the group had its own train, was on national radio, and played every major concert hall in the United States, including Carnegie Hall, where Bix played his own composition "In A Mist." Bix continued to collaborate with Whiteman until September of 1929.
According to his peers and music historians, Biz was a true jazz pioneer, having written the compositions "In a Mist," "Candlelights," "In the Dark," and "Flashes," as well as his hometown salute "Davenport Blues." The gifted artist, however, eventually became dependent on alcohol, a disease which contributed to lobar pneumonia, and he died on August 6, 1931, at the age of 28, in his apartment in Queens, New York. Bix's body was returned to Davenport, where he was buried at Oakdale Cemetery.
Appearing in the March 9 library presentation, Dr. Charlie Dahan is a professor in the Recording Industry Department at Middle Tennessee State University. He has co-authored two books on Gennett Records and has earned three successful National Register for Historic Places nominations: for FAME Studios, Hank Snow’s Rainbow Ranch, and the King Records Buildings. His book Don’t Lose Your Good Thing: Saving America’s Historic Recording Places will be released by SUNY Press in 2024. Dr. Dahan serves on the boards of the King Records Legacy Foundation, the Starr-Gennett Foundation (Advisory), and Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, and he was previously the A&R Director at Shanachie Records and a talent agent with the Roots Agency.
Joining Dr. Dahan in conversation, Bob Jacobsen is a past president and long-time board member of the Starr-Gennett Foundation, Inc. in Richmond, Indiana, where he is asked frequently to talk with visitors and tourists about the Gennett Records Walk of Fame and its honored musicians. Bob has attended the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival since about 2006, and is a graduate of Purdue University Northwest.
Bix Beiderbecke & Gennett Records will be presented at the Davenport Public Library's Eastern Svenue Branch, in meeting rooms A and B, on March 9, participation in the 1:30 p.m. event is free, and more information is available by calling (563)326-7832 and visiting DavenportPublicLibrary.com.
