Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Society Jazz Festival

The Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to perpetuating the music and memory of Leon "Bix" Beiderbecke. The Society has an annual jazz festival focused on traditional jazz from the era that Bix inspired and made famous. The Society has an annual Bix Youth Jazz Band comprised of local junior and high school musicians who audition to participate. This is an opportunity to introduce young musicians to an era of music that is not taught in local music programs. Seniors in the Bix Youth Band can qualify for college scholarships with their participation. The catalyst for formation of the Bix Society came in 1971 when Bill Donahoe's Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Band of New Jersey traveled to Davenport to visit Bix's boyhood home sites where he'd played and to pay musical tribute over his grave in Oakdale Memorial Park. They also played a jam session at the Davenport Holiday Inn. Hundreds overflowed the jam session site. Davenport musician Don O'Dette and others were so impressed with the turnout that they soon formed the non-profit Bix Society with O'Dette as its first president. Today the Bix Jazz Festival is known worldwide and has attracted many celebrity performers and jazz buffs of all ages. Today, as always, all board members and volunteers donate their time and energies to make the annual festival ever bigger and better. Board members see the Society's goals, in addition to paying tribute to the genius of Bix, as including educating young people to the traditions of jazz by actually learning and playing the music.  http://www.bixsociety.org/

The mission of the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Society is to perpetuate the music and memory of Leon "Bix" Beiderbecke through jazz education programs an annual jazz festival and the preservation of traditional jazz.