Lovers of Dixieland music are converging in Davenport, the birthplace of legendary jazz cornetist and composer Bix Beiderbecke. The 33rd annual Bix Jazz Festival draws toe-tappers from around the globe. The Reverend C.H. Meyers sums it up by saying Beiderbecke lived a short but full life of 28 years — that enriched others lives.Meyers gave a talk to open the weekend-long music festival at Davenport’s Oakdale Cemetery, where Beiderbecke is buried. He was admired by the likes of Louis Armstrong and the greatest of the great among jazz musicians in the 1920’s and today. Ray Voss is president of the Bix Society and says there are lots of good reasons to attend the jazz concerts on the Mississippi riverfront. Voss says there are four new bands this year and the “old timers” that everyone likes to see.People from all over the world are headed to the Quad Cities for the jazz festival. Sue Fisher, of New Orleans, attended the kick-off cocktail party at the Col Ballroom and she explains why she made the journey.Fisher is writing a book about one of the musicians with whom Bix used to play and Davenport’s festival is the best place to do research. She was dressed in a roaring 20’s outfit for the bash.Tickets are still available to some shows through Sunday. For more information, surf to “www.bixsociety.org”.
