Saving the Bix Museum from the Mississippi Floodwaters

I have long been an admirer of the pioneering and tragically short-lived 1920's jazz cornetist Bix Beiderbecke (March 10, 1903-August 6, 1931), born and raised in Davenport, Iowa and the first white jazz musician who played with the power, brilliance and overall excellence of the finest African-American jazz performers. So I was recently relieved to see a post on the Bix Beiderbecke online forum, https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/bixography/, that the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Museum, which opened in Davenport in 2017, came through the recent Mississippi River floods with its irreplaceable collection of Bix memorabilia is unscathed. First, a bit of Bix on record courtesy of YouTube: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ue9igC7flI

The song is J. Russel Robinson's “Singin’ the Blues,” recorded February 4, 1927 by Frank Trumbauer and His Orchestra. The soloists are Trumbauer on C-melody saxophone (a no-longer-used instrument pitched midway between an alto and tenor sax), Bix on cornet and — briefly — Jimmy Dorsey on clarinet as part of the closing ensemble. This is generally considered Bix's finest record. Here’s another particularly good one, “Jazz Me Blues” by Bix and His Gang, featuring Adrian Rollini’s killer bass sax, also from 1927:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uXFXwt8gQs

Davenport has hosted an annual Bix Jazz Festival since 1972 — the first one featured at least two musicians who recorded with Bix, trombonist Bill Rank and drummer Chauncey Morehouse — but it wasn't until 2017 that the Bix Beiderbecke Museum was opened in his home town. The following is a link to the Davenport PBS station's reporting of the successful effort by museum volunteers, headed by president Howard Braren, to save its priceless collection of Bixiana from this year's Mississippi River flooding. I'd like to thank Albert Haim, Webmaster of the Bixography Forum, for calling my attention to this link. The transcript of Braren's interview by WQAD reporter Jim Mertens is my own, and I take responsibility for any errors. — Mark Gabrish Conlan

https://wqad.com/2019/07/31/the-cities-podcast-how-bix-was-saved/

WQAD.com, July 31, 2019

THE CITIES PODCAST: How Bix was saved

BY JIM MERTENS

Jim talks with the president of the Bix Beiderbecke Museum and Archives about the effort to save memorabilia located in the basement of the River Music Experience as downtown Davenport flood protection collapsed.

Plus, what’s the biggest surprise at the museum since it opened just two years ago?

And what’s being done right now to make sure historians and music students know the true story of the musician who died at the age of 27 [sic] but still influences jazz today.

Jim Mertens: Hi, I’m Jim Mertens, and welcome to The Cities. When the temporary floodwall holding back the Mississippi River gave out in April, businesses scrambled to save what they could. Much of it was replaceable, but in the basement of the River Music Experience were items that could not be replaced. They are the chronicle of the life of jazz legend Bix Beiderbecke. Saved they were, though, and they are now back on display just as the city celebrates the life of Bix. I talked with the president of the Bix Beiderbecke Museum and Archives, Howard Braren, about the day of the breach, and how he wants to make sure the life and music of Bix lives on.

Howard Braren: The breach happened and the water came and punctured a part of the wall, lower part of the wall, at the lower level of the RME, and water started pouring in. We were able to contain it with barriers for a period of time, and within the hour we had a technician down there to plug the wall.

Mertens: So you had — so it was just one —

Braren: No, a couple, about the size of a half-dollar. And they plugged it up with a material that, when it hits water, it expands. And that did the trick. But there was just water all over the place, and in the meantime, in the anticipation that the water might rise, we raised the Bix piano, which was already on a small stage —

Mertens: Sure.

Braren: — and raised it on cinder blocks.

Mertens: Now, take me back a little before the actual breach occurred. I mean, were you already prepared? Did you move as much as you could?

Braren: Yes, we moved everything. We had a team of people. I mean, it came out of the woodwork. Volunteers taking every item in the Bix Museum up to the second floor, in a secure area.

Mertens: Uh-huh. And let’s be honest: his cornet’s there. You have a contribution of some of his personal items that included his well-known gold vest and the trunk that he traveled with.

Braren: Oh, yeah.

Mertens: Which are not inconsequential for lovers of Bix Beiderbecke.

Braren: Not at all. All that material was brought up to the second floor, where it was in a secure place. And now we’ve brought it all back down, and it’s back, and even better than ever. We redid the floor of the museum, and so we’re open for business weekdays from 10 until 5. Again, this is in the River Music Experience at the corner of Second and Main in downtown Davenport.

Mertens: For old people like me, the old Redstone Building, of course.

Braren: That’s right. For some of us, the old Pierce and Harmon department store.

Mertens: Well done, well done. Did you have to make a lot of changes? I mean, because you have wall displays. I mean, what was the extent of the damage? What had to be replaced?

Braren: Virtually nothing.

Mertens: Fantastic.

Braren: We were able to take down all the displays and bring them up to the second floor. It was a miracle that we were able to get all this done and preserve it. And it’s now back in place for visitors to enjoy and experience Bix’s life and music.

Mertens: Well, like I said, it’s been two years since you’ve been open. You’re relatively new. What’s surprised you so far? I mean, people will latch on to, or notice, or really fall in love with something that you might not expect them to. Is there any part of the exhibit that surprised you, that people are really enjoying?

Braren: What surprises us is several things. It’s where people are coming from. Literally. We keep a record. People sign in. People come from all over the country, virtually every state. People make a trip to Davenport to come to the Bix Museum. And more, before the breach in the wall, we had a gentleman come from Beijing, China on a business trip to the Midwest. He made a special trip [and] told our attendant that in Beijing there are a core of Bix fans. They get together regularly and listen to Bix’s music.

Mertens: This really does underline the whole point of Bix living. He died at the age of 28, but the impact he’s had on music is beyond what you even thought.

Braren: Amen.

Mertens: So tell me a little bit about what you hope people will do, because you’ve got the Run coming up, and you’ve got the Jazz Fest. I mean, people really think about Bix during these few weeks in early August.

Braren: Well, we’re hoping that Bix fans and people who want to learn more about Bix come down and take in the Bix Museum. You can do it, depending on whether you want to spend 20 minutes or an hour. And while you’re there, there’s Bix music playing in the background so you can just enjoy it. And then there’s interactive screens you can touch and listen to Bix music.

Mertens: This must have been a dream for you for quite some time. I keep underlining the fact that it’s only been two years, yet the Bix Jazz Festival — isn’t it marking —

Braren: Yes, 47 [years].

Mertens: Marking 50 soon, isn’t it?

Braren: No, 47.

Mertens: But what I’m saying is it’s close to, you know, the 50-year mark.

Braren: Right.

Mertens: And you’re seeing — it’s been around, and finally we’re getting a chance. I know the Putnam Museum always had an exhibit of some sort, but now there’s this permanent exhibit.

Braren: Well, it took us a lot longer —

Mertens: Fundraising.

Braren: Eight or nine years, $800,000 — which we raised privately among Bix friends and supporters.

Mertens: Plus finding an appropriate home.

Braren: Right. And we’re debt-free. We — and we’re looking forward to building up an endowment to secure it over time.

Mertens: I was going to ask, what is the next step? What are you hoping for next with the Bix Museum?

Braren: Well, that’s a key issue —

Mertens: Absolutely.

Braren: — that we maintain it in perpetuity. And so we’re encouraging Bix supporters to perhaps include the Bix Museum in their estate plan, and perhaps make a generous donation as we speak.

Mertens: When I talk about what you are president of, it’s important to underline the second part: the Bix Beiderbecke Museum and Archive president. How active is the Archive? Are you still collecting things?

Braren: Well, we are still developing the Archives in the Davenport Public Library, just one block north of the Museum. And it’s in development right now, and we expect that within two months we’re going to announce an opening of the Bix Archives, which will have all kinds of Bix memorabilia available for researchers and others.

Mertens: Musical lovers, scholars, and all of that.

Braren: Yes.

Mertens: That’s a fantastic thing.

Braren: In the lower level of the Davenport Public Library.

Mertens: You’re in a lot of basements now.

Braren: Right. [They both laugh.]

Mertens: That’s O.K., though. Just keep them dry! Howard Braren, the president of the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Museum and Archives. Thank you so much for joining us.

Braren: Thank you very much.

Mertens: Thank you, and I appreciate very much what you do. Saving all that memorabilia is not a small task, so thank you very much as well.