♪♪

[Nathaniel Kraft] Bix Beiderbecke was a 1920s jazz age musician who grew up here in the Quad Cities, in Davenport. He's mostly known as one of the most influential jazz soloist of the jazz age alongside Louis Armstrong. He was mostly known for playing cornet, but he was a pianist by trade. Growing up he had a perfect pitch hearing where he could hear music and then repeat it on whichever instrument he was playing on almost note for note.

[Narrator] Known for his masterful improvisational soloing, Leon Bix Beiderbecke put Davenport on the musical map. He was born to German immigrants and as a child played his earliest concerts for his family at his grandparents’ house, this Italianate mansion built in the early 1880s in the Hamburg historic district.

[Kraft] The Beiderbecke Inn used to be Bix's grandparents’ house and it was built by his grandparents. Bix and all of the grandkids would entertain at parties. And so, in that house used to have a grand piano in there and all the kids would have to perform. And so, by the end of the night, everyone was waiting for him to play the piano for them. So, this, this old German house kind of was that kind of hub for this family.

♪♪

[Narrator] Davenport Central High School, originally established as Davenport High, is where Bix attended classes. Built in 1907, this Beaux-Arts design structure is where the jazz legend cultivated his future career in music.

[Kraft] The music department was ran by a man named Ernst Otto, who is a German immigrant as well. He came to the Quad Cities and became the first superintendent of music.

And he taught all the way from elementary school to high school. He was a very, you know, very influential composer in town that taught every, you know, every kid that learned music, you know, even outside of high school, you know, his band director was the one trying to help him here and there. And a lot of times people think because of his knack and his natural gift of hearing that, you know, he kind of was growing up in this vacuum, he was going to be a famous musician wherever. But he had this kind of connection with some of the local, you know, the local musicians and things like that really helped him and had this great impact on his life. And probably that's why he became a musician was these people that he knew.

♪♪

[Narrator] Located downtown on Brady street, this three-story Victorian style brick building known as Hibernian Hall was the site of Bix's first professional gig as a musician.

[Kraft] Back then they didn't just, you know, a lot of dance studios had to have live music to teach their waltzes and things like that. So, they had to hire local musicians for it. Bix got a group together and it was one of his first groups that he was kind of playing locally here. So, it was his first advertised gig.

[Narrator] Another venue he performed at regularly was the Danceland Ballroom, a Spanish colonial revival style building constructed in the 1920s.

[Kraft] Danceland is one of the oldest in operation dance studios/performance halls. They've been open since the early 1900s. Bix performed there several times, including with like the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. It's one of the oldest dance studios still in the country.

♪♪

[Narrator] Established in 1891, the Outing Club stood as a symbol of refinement and social life for the Beiderbecke family.

[Kraft] Bix's family were German immigrants. And they were some of the first members of the Outing Club when it first started. A lot of it was kind of the affluent German community that started and founded the Outing Club. And so, the Beiderbecke family had been members for decades, essentially. So, Bix hung out there quite often. He largely played for their tennis team, and he also did recitals and things like that. A fun story about his, you know, his childhood is, yeah, he played tennis, so he played for the Outing Club. They did a tournament, and he ended up winning one of the tournaments in the singles, and we recently got the trophy.

♪♪

[Narrator] Constructed in 1915, the Black Hawk Hotel is a Beaux-Arts style structure that was a mainstay for Davenport high society and upscale guests. Bix often visited the hotel when he returned home and could be heard playing impromptu gig in the lobby.

[Kraft] After becoming much more famous later on, in the late 1920s and early 1930s, when he was alive, he would occasionally just hang out in the lobby and he would have his cornet with them. And so, he would kind of sometimes do impromptu performances. But the big thing that he was known for was a few performances in their ballrooms there.

♪♪

[Bix Fest Announcer) From the banks of the Mississippi River at Davenport, Iowa, the Iowa Public Broadcasting Network presents -- Bix '79.

[Narrator] Located on Beiderbecke Drive sits the LeClaire Park bandshell, also known as the Petersen Memorial Music Pavilion. Built in the early 1900s, the bandshell and pavilion were designed to host various city events.

♪♪

[Narrator] Launched in 1972, the LeClaire Memorial Jazz Festival draws thousands to Davenport each summer and used the bandshell as its primary venue for more than 30 years.

♪♪

[Kraft] So the band shell was built during Bix's time. It's not really well known if Bix ever played there officially. We know that Bix hung out often downtown to listen to the music. That bandshell has been active ever since. It's been a staple downtown where people have concerts and performances throughout the summer. Next to it, they had a local artist commission a bust of Bix's head. And so, there's a statue of Bix down by the bandshell to kind of commemorate those many years at the festival.

[Narrator] The Bix Beiderbecke Museum, located on West 2nd Street in downtown Davenport, commemorates the musician's life and his lasting influence in Davenport and the jazz music scene.

[Kraft] When you get to the museum, it goes through his life and his legacy. We have a number of items of his, both as a child and as an adult. The big things we have are his childhood vest and cornet. We then have later in life his tuxedo that he wore with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. We also have his grandparents' piano, Frankie Trumbauer's saxophone. We have Bill Rank's trombone, as well as some traveling trunks that they took on tour with them.

[Narrator] After years of struggling with health issues, Bix Beiderbecke's life was cut short in Queens, New York on August 6, 1931. He was just 28 years old. His death stunned the jazz world, marking the end of a brilliant career.

[Kraft] When he died, they collected him and they brought him back on train all the way to the Quad Cities. He had a nice little mass here and then he was buried at Oakdale Cemetery.

So, people come from all over the world to go see his grave site.

[Narrator] Though his life was brief, Bix Beiderbecke's music endures. An echo of genius that reminds us how one Iowan influenced the sound of American jazz forever. And how one small city on the Mississippi River gave the world a voice that still inspires musicians today.

♪♪