Musical+Roots+of+the+Quad+Cities

Original Author: Victoria Drews, ENG346 FL12
 * Musical Roots of the Quad Cities **

When celebrating the Quad Cities music culture, it may be altogether too easy to dismiss the minority musicians it birthed or those that helped birth it. Consider the attention paid to musicians like Italian-American Louis Bellson or African-American Laurdine “Pat” Patrick in comparison to attention paid to Caucasian musician Leon “Bix” Beiderbecke. Bix has a race founded in 1975, memorial society, jazz festival, street fest and bronze statue in his honor, while only recently a race and cemetery monument were established in honor of Bellson and no current dedications are established in honor of Patrick. Similarly, while Quad Citians celebrate river culture, its music and its role in establishing the area through community events, some who made contributions to this culture are sometimes underemphasized. In tradition of United States history, it seems that minority influences, particularly African-American influences, on the Quad Cities have been diminished through what the city and its residents choose to acknowledge. To give due credit, African-American influences on Bix Beiderbecke’s music and on current Quad City festivals, such as the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, Rollin’ on the River Blues Festival and Burlington Steamboat Days, will be examined.

Bix, a jazz cornetist, pianist and composer, was born in Davenport, IA in 1903. He is reported to have diligently studied the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, or the ODJB, a group of white jazz musicians (Gabbard). Tracing these musicians, one will find that they were influenced by Creole musicians of New Orleans, including Joe “King” Oliver (Conyers). King was a Louisianan cornet-player who led groups like King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band and King Oliver’s Dixie Syncopators, who were characterized by laid-back swing, as well as mentoring Louis Armstrong, an African-American jazz trumpeter, in New Orleans (Oliver). Beyond being indirectly influenced by numerous African-American musicians, Bix might have also had direct contact with Armstrong as early as 1919 via the Mississippi River (Conyers). One could speculate that if the two musicians did interact Bix would have incorporated Armstrong’s style because he could have easily found it enjoyable, considering Armstrong was mentored and influenced by the same musician who influenced Bix’s early study subject, the ODJB (Oliver). The celebration, therefore, of Bix Beiderbecke in the Quad Cities through activities, such as the Bix Beiderbecke Festival or the Bix Run, are actually a celebration of the African-American musical tradition as well as specific African-American musicians, like King and the groups with which he was associated.

Just as one might overlook African-American influences on Bix, so too might one overlook the African-American influence on the area’s popular festivals, such as the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, Rollin’ on the River Blues Festival, and Burlington Steamboat Days. After WWI, travel via steam-driven boats from New Orleans to Northern areas increased, made possible by the Mississippi River (Kenney). Davenport, IA became an important point of travel for numerous reasons. Not only was it en route for shipping goods from St. Louis, a vital supply point of the Mississippi, to northern areas, but it also was one of the closest stops steamboats could make to Chicago, a musical hub. While more direct water channels to Chicago from St. Louis exist, they were not deep enough to support steamboats. With steamboat travel to the Quad Cities came “riverboat jazz,” dance music typically played by ten to twelve musicians (Kenney). The association between the Mississippi River and music was exasperated when railroads became a more efficient method of transporting produce in more numbers and higher speeds. Because of this, in 1907, John Streckfus, a second generation German immigrant, decided to attract more passengers by soliciting ragtime bands to play on the steamboat excursions (Kenney). Many of the first bands were white, but by 1917 more African-American bands were commissioned, such as the Kentucky Jazz Band, as well as bands including Norman Mason, Davey Jones, Paul Dominguez, Marable, George “Pops” Foster, and Warren “Baby” Dodds (Owsley). While steamboats were eventually replaced by diesel-powered barges, the association between the Mississippi and music did not fade. In fact, after the “Red Summer,” a period of intense racial violence in 1919, many African-Americans planned on this association by using the Mississippi to leave the South during the Great Migration (Kenney). Considering many of these individuals were musicians, including Louis Armstrong, one could speculate that many not only planned on this association, but exasperated it further. While some of these musicians, such as Armstrong, Harold “Shorty” Baker, Boyd Atkins, Dewey Jackson and Eugene Sedric, went on to find national fame, others, like Charles Creath and Floyd Campbell, became less recognizable (Kenney). Perhaps it was the residual emotions left by those participating in the Great Migration that allowed the Mississippi River, the boats that traveled it, and the music that flowed with it to remain a “dream-filled threshold … of life’s possibilities” that Quad Citians celebrate today (Kenney).

Of the many festivals and community events held in the Quad Cities and surrounding areas, three in particular illustrate the influence African-American musicians had upon the area’s musical culture. The Mississippi Valley Blues Festival is a three day blues festival featuring big name blues musicians along with up-and-coming artists in LeClaire, IA occurring since 1985. Rollin’ on the River Blues Festival is a blues festival featuring hometown bands as well as national and international musicians in Keokuk, IL since 1989. Burlington Steamboat Days is a three day community event founded in 1963 featuring live music with particular attention to the influence of the Mississippi River in facilitating Burlington’s identity, beyond being a railroad town. Among these three events, some important similarities arise. All celebrate the Mississippi’s role in creating the area, prominently utilize live music, and encourage a mixture of well known and up-and-coming musicians. Considering these fundamental similarities, then, African-American influences can be observed. As the Mississippi River channeled large numbers of African-Americans before, during and after the Great Migration, they can be considered a staple in establishing the Quad Cities area and its musical culture, which the festivals aim to celebrate. Similarly, the practice of attracting audiences through the promise of live music, witnessed in local newspaper articles featuring stories about artists to perform during the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, including Moses Rascoe, Honeyboy Edwards, C.J. Chenier, Johnny Shines and Memphis Slim, can be traced to Streckfus’ practice of soliciting African-American ragtime bands to entertain steamboat passengers (Quad-City Times). Plus, the mixture of well known and less known musicians, such as 11-year-old “Magic” Mike Cramer to perform during the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, follows the history of both nationally recognized musicians and less known musicians playing together on the Mississippi steamboats (Cook).

While minority influences, particularly African-American, are sometimes overlooked, it seems that they are inseparable from the musicians or events that are part of the QC culture. African-American influences on the much celebrated Davenport musician, Bix, include Joe “King” Oliver, who worked with King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band, King Oliver’s Dixie Syncopators, and Louis Armstrong. Not only can African-American influences be traced to popular Quad City musicians, they can also be traced to QC events that are a staple of the area’s musical culture. The Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, Rollin’ on the River Blues Festival, and Burlington Steamboat Days call upon African-American influences. Heavily due to African-American ragtime bands on steamboats and the Great Migration, the Mississippi River transferred a musical culture closely related to African-American individuals. When celebrating the events, people and values that comprise the identity of Quad Citians, it is important to think back farther in history to more thoroughly understand the QC roots, of which African-Americans are a vital part.


 * Works Cited **

Conyers, James L.. "Jazz Antecedents." //African American Jazz and Rap: Social and Philosophical Examinations of Black Expressive Behavior//. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2001. 59. Print.

Cook, Linda. "LeClaire youth sings the blues." //Quad-City Times// [Davenport] 9 June 1990, sec. Special Events and Projects. Print.

Gabbard, Krin. "Black and Tan Fantasies: The Jazz Biopic." //Jammin' at the Margins: Jazz and the American Cinema//. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996. 69. Print.

Henry, Don. "Burlington Steamboat Days." //Burlington Steamboat Days//. Burlington Steamboat Days, 11 June 1972. Web. 24 Nov. 2012. .

Kenney, William Howland. "Introduction." //Jazz on the River//. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005. 4-11. Print.

Lewis, Suzy. "Zydeco spices Blues Fes '89." //Quad-City Times// [Davenport] 1989, sec. Special Events and Projects. Print.

"Louie Bellson Legacy." //Louie Bellson//. Louie Bellson Legacy, 2011. Web. 24 Nov. 2012. <http://ats.louiebellson.info/monument_dedication/>.

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Mississippi Valley Blues Fest '89 //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">. 1989. Davenport Special Collections. //Go!// 2 June 1989: 3. Print.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">"Mississippi Valley Blues Festival." //Last.fm//. Last fm Ltd., 4 July 2012. Web. 24 Nov. 2012. <http://www.last.fm/festival/3287800+Mississippi+Valley+Blues+Festival>

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Morgan, Gene. "'King of Delta Blues' coming to Davenport levee." //Quad-City Times// [Davenport] 1989, sec. Special Events and Projects. Print.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">"Oliver, Joe "King"." //Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians//. Jazz. Web. 13 Oct. 2012. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;"><www.jazz.com/encyclopedia/oliver-joe-king>.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Owsley, Dennis. "The Pre-Jazz Era (1895-1919)." //City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis, 1895-1973//. St. Louis, Mo.: Reedy Press, 2006. 10. Print.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Renkes, Jim. "It's big-time crowd for the river blues." //Quad-City Times// [Davenport] 4 July 1986, sec. Special Events and Projects. Print.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Renkes, Jim. "Q-C wails the blues." //Quad-City Times// [Davenport] 2 July 1988, sec. Special Events and Projects. Print.

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