Connie Gibbons, executive director of the River Music Experience, has said she views the new roots-music center on a par with big-city facilities such as the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and the Experience Music Project in Seattle.
Those are bold comparisons that boost expectations, but after seeing the finished product at its opening this weekend, it's clear that raising the bar has had a marvelous effect: The River Music Experience (RME) in downtown Davenport is poised to be a jewel of the Quad Cities cultural scene, and possibly a world-class facility.
I visited the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City earlier this month, and the RME is quite simply a superior facility. It makes better use of technology, provides a much better context for the music, and uses its space beautifully.
Local jazz and blues expert Jimmie Jones seemed positively giddy at the opening gala. "I can't believe what they've done with this place," he said. His only complaint was the dominance of white performers for opening weekend.
Local musician Bill Douglas, who played on Saturday at the RME, was also pleased. "This place was made for us," he said.
At an opening gala Friday night, I wandered around the facility for 90 minutes and felt that I barely scratched the surface. I played around with the massive River Wall, which uses six "ports" that tell the story of roots music from the lens of a location on or near the Mississippi River. Its content includes text, video, and audio on everything from the origin of jazz music to a performance of "Foxey Lady" by Jimi Hendrix. Visitors make their own way through the four hours of River Wall material, using a wand to select what they want to read, see, and hear. At any given moment, the different screens of the River Wall are showing an incredible diversity of talent, from Mississippi John Hurt to Bob Dylan to Prince.
Other key interactive features are the "ear ports," at which visitors don a pair of headphones and use a touch screen to read biographies of and hear music from hundreds of roots artists. This was the first time I'd knowingly heard Bix Beiderbecke perform. The ports are scattered throughout the RME and are great educational tools, although I doubt many people will feel comfortable standing at the terminals for long periods of time. (Putting ear ports in Mojo's coffee shop downstairs might encourage people to spend more time with them as they're relaxing with a drink.)
A children's area features miniature instruments that anyone can try out, and I'm guessing this will be a favorite place for adults as well as their kids. Other permanent exhibits include a display case featuring local legends and a scale model of the S.S. Capitol excursion boat. These displays are done professionally and meticulously, but they seem more afterthoughts than centerpieces. Two small theatres provide an introduction to roots music and discuss specific aspects of music-making through interviews with prominent performers.
A welcome contrast to the technology-heavy content in the main museum is the exhibit of dozens of photographs of blues performers by Dick Waterman, in a separate gallery. As with the River Wall, one could conceivably spend hours with this part of the RME; the faces are weathered, and the eyes and expressions tell stories better than any words. The portraits capture so much soul, it's a shame they aren't a permanent part of the museum.
Things weren't perfect, of course. In the din of the opening celebration on Friday, with roughly 1,000 people in attendance, the volume levels for the River Wall and the ear ports were too low, and there were no obvious controls to compensate for that. Obviously, gala-opening crowds aren't the norm, but there will be times when the RME is packed, and people with hearing impairments could find the volume levels problematic no matter how many people are around. (Kudos, however, for the caption option on the River Wall.)
And outside of the interactive exhibits - the River Wall and the ear ports - there isn't much to read, which might make it a quick visit for people uncomfortable with computer technology.
But Gibbons said the River Wall, which people navigate by using a wand that's monitored by video camera, was easily understood and used by people of all ages in the testing, and it took me only a few moments to figure it out. It's not quite intuitive and natural, but it's also not intimidating.
And there were some typical opening glitches, such as one selection in the ear ports that read "placeholder copy."
These little things are so minor, though, that they're barely noticed, and for the most part they'll probably be corrected quickly. After all, what's clear from one visit is that the River Music Experience has been developed with care and an attention to detail and experience, from the merchandise available in Mojo's café on the first floor to the giant record sleeves on the wall upstairs to the lighting. The RME, by itself, is now a reason to come to the Quad Cities.
The River Music Experience is open from 10 a.m to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays. Admission is $6.50 for adults and $5.50 for people under 12. For more information, visit (http://www.rivermusicexperience.com).
Those are bold comparisons that boost expectations, but after seeing the finished product at its opening this weekend, it's clear that raising the bar has had a marvelous effect: The River Music Experience (RME) in downtown Davenport is poised to be a jewel of the Quad Cities cultural scene, and possibly a world-class facility.
I visited the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City earlier this month, and the RME is quite simply a superior facility. It makes better use of technology, provides a much better context for the music, and uses its space beautifully.
Local jazz and blues expert Jimmie Jones seemed positively giddy at the opening gala. "I can't believe what they've done with this place," he said. His only complaint was the dominance of white performers for opening weekend.
Local musician Bill Douglas, who played on Saturday at the RME, was also pleased. "This place was made for us," he said.
At an opening gala Friday night, I wandered around the facility for 90 minutes and felt that I barely scratched the surface. I played around with the massive River Wall, which uses six "ports" that tell the story of roots music from the lens of a location on or near the Mississippi River. Its content includes text, video, and audio on everything from the origin of jazz music to a performance of "Foxey Lady" by Jimi Hendrix. Visitors make their own way through the four hours of River Wall material, using a wand to select what they want to read, see, and hear. At any given moment, the different screens of the River Wall are showing an incredible diversity of talent, from Mississippi John Hurt to Bob Dylan to Prince.
Other key interactive features are the "ear ports," at which visitors don a pair of headphones and use a touch screen to read biographies of and hear music from hundreds of roots artists. This was the first time I'd knowingly heard Bix Beiderbecke perform. The ports are scattered throughout the RME and are great educational tools, although I doubt many people will feel comfortable standing at the terminals for long periods of time. (Putting ear ports in Mojo's coffee shop downstairs might encourage people to spend more time with them as they're relaxing with a drink.)
A children's area features miniature instruments that anyone can try out, and I'm guessing this will be a favorite place for adults as well as their kids. Other permanent exhibits include a display case featuring local legends and a scale model of the S.S. Capitol excursion boat. These displays are done professionally and meticulously, but they seem more afterthoughts than centerpieces. Two small theatres provide an introduction to roots music and discuss specific aspects of music-making through interviews with prominent performers.
A welcome contrast to the technology-heavy content in the main museum is the exhibit of dozens of photographs of blues performers by Dick Waterman, in a separate gallery. As with the River Wall, one could conceivably spend hours with this part of the RME; the faces are weathered, and the eyes and expressions tell stories better than any words. The portraits capture so much soul, it's a shame they aren't a permanent part of the museum.
Things weren't perfect, of course. In the din of the opening celebration on Friday, with roughly 1,000 people in attendance, the volume levels for the River Wall and the ear ports were too low, and there were no obvious controls to compensate for that. Obviously, gala-opening crowds aren't the norm, but there will be times when the RME is packed, and people with hearing impairments could find the volume levels problematic no matter how many people are around. (Kudos, however, for the caption option on the River Wall.)
And outside of the interactive exhibits - the River Wall and the ear ports - there isn't much to read, which might make it a quick visit for people uncomfortable with computer technology.
But Gibbons said the River Wall, which people navigate by using a wand that's monitored by video camera, was easily understood and used by people of all ages in the testing, and it took me only a few moments to figure it out. It's not quite intuitive and natural, but it's also not intimidating.
And there were some typical opening glitches, such as one selection in the ear ports that read "placeholder copy."
These little things are so minor, though, that they're barely noticed, and for the most part they'll probably be corrected quickly. After all, what's clear from one visit is that the River Music Experience has been developed with care and an attention to detail and experience, from the merchandise available in Mojo's café on the first floor to the giant record sleeves on the wall upstairs to the lighting. The RME, by itself, is now a reason to come to the Quad Cities.
The River Music Experience is open from 10 a.m to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays. Admission is $6.50 for adults and $5.50 for people under 12. For more information, visit (http://www.rivermusicexperience.com).
