Do you have a family member or ancestor who was a musician? Are you curious to learn more about their involvement in Quad Cities bands or ensembles? Special Collections intern Harrison Phillis will give a presentation featuring a brief history of music in the Quad Cities area as well as the available resources related to […]
The Bix Beiderbecke Jazz Festival opens today, running through Sunday at the Rhythm City Casino in Davenport, and, let’s be honest, it’s got an air of stodgy nostalgia to it. The Bix Fest was once a much bigger deal, an outdoor and indoor festival at a number of different venues, featuring bands from all over […]
Today, on the 90th anniversary of the passing of jazz legend and Davenport native Bix Beiderbecke (1903-1931), Josh Duffee of Davenport changed his Facebook profile picture to a black-and-white photo of a 24-year-old Bix, from 1927. A passionate jazz drummer, teacher and bandleader, Duffee and his Graystone Monarchs (10-piece all-star band) will be performing a […]
Saturday in the Arts is a weekly feature covering a trend, subject, event or personality of local interest. It runs every Saturday morning on your site for the best entertainment and arts coverage in the area, QuadCities.com! Liz Beiderbecke-Hart lives 139 miles from Davenport (outside Springfield, Ill.), but makes the pilgrimage back every year in […]
BREAKING NEWS: The 50th anniversary of the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival, Aug. 5-7, will be live-streamed for the first time. There will be five 5-hour concerts over those three days – at Davenport’s Rhythm City Casino Event Center — and you can pay for one ($20 each) or all five through Eventbrite. This link […]
Saturday in the Arts is a weekly feature covering a trend, subject, event or personality of local interest. It runs every Saturday morning on your site for the best entertainment and arts coverage in the area, QuadCities.com! Over 20 years ago, Josh Duffee had an inspired idea – form a big band and play the […]
The Bix Beiderbecke Museum and World Archives in downtown Davenport is raising funds to renovate their permanent exhibit with three of the most important artifacts acquired to date. The $12,000 project will make it possible to permanently display Don Murray’s tenor saxophone and Bix’s tuxedo jacket and traveling trunk during the Paul Whiteman years in […]
For the first time in 11 years, the Dixieland jazz of the 1920s will be part of Bix 7 race weekend, with a new music festival – The Heights of the Era, all day Saturday, July 24, in Davenport. “We really miss Bix Beiderbecke music being part of Bix weekend,” event organizer Michelle Solis Russell, […]
Local musician Josh Duffee has long been an advocate for keeping the legacy of legendary jazz musician — and former Quad-Cities resident — Bix Beiderbecke alive and well. Now Duffee is advocating to keep Bix’s childhood home alive as well. Duffee has been monitoring the situation as Bix’s former abode has fallen into a state […]
Congratulations to local musician Josh Duffee, who very deservedly won the Bix Lives Award this weekend! Josh has long been a huge supporter of the Bix fest and Beiderbecke’s legacy, as well as an accomplished jazz musician in his own right. Josh posted news of the win on his facebook, where he said: I am […]
