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45th Annual Bix Jazz Festival

Credit Bix Memorial Society
Bix Beiderbecke

For the 45th year, musicians and fans from across the country and around the world will gather in the Quad Cities to honor BixBeiderbecke. The jazz legend was born in Davenport, and the four-day festival in his honor opens Thursday night.

Josh Duffee is president and music director for the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Society, and will play with several bands during the festival, that'll feature music from the 1920's and 30's.
Duffee says one important change in recent years has been holding some of the concerts indoors, instead of holding them all outside in Davenport's LeClaire Park. 

jduffee1.mp3
Indoors and air conditioned means music fans aren't distracted by the weather.

Credit Bix Memorial Society
Josh Duffee

The indoor events for the Bix Jazz Festival will be held in the Waterfront Convention Center in Bettendorf, starting Thursday night with the Bix Youth Jazz Band at 6, the Basin Street Boys at 7, and at 8 the Memphis Speed Kings will play. Outdoor concerts are scheduled for LeClaire Park on Friday and Saturday nights. 

The schedule and other information are available at bix society dot org.

A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois.