Bix 7
Encyclopedia
The Bix 7 Road Race and Memorial Jazz Festival is a road race and music festival held annually in Davenport, Iowa
Davenport, Iowa
Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...
. The race and festival commemorate Davenport native and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musician Bix Beiderbecke
Bix Beiderbecke
Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke was an American jazz cornetist, jazz pianist, and composer.With Louis Armstrong, Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s...
.
Race
The Bix 7 road race is a 7 miles (11.3 km) long race held in late July in Davenport, IowaDavenport, Iowa
Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...
, known for its hills and huge crowds on the out-and-back course. The race was founded in 1975 by John Hudetz, then a resident of Bettendorf, Iowa
Bettendorf, Iowa
Bettendorf is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Bettendorf is the fifteenth largest city in the U.S. state of Iowa and the fourth largest city in the "Quad Cities". As of the 2010 United States Census the population grew to 33,217. Bettendorf is one of the Quad Cities, along with...
who wanted to bring some of the excitement he felt when he ran his first Boston Marathon
Boston Marathon
The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon hosted by the U.S. city of Boston, Massachusetts, on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897 and inspired by the success of the first modern-day marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics, the Boston Marathon is the world's oldest...
to the Quad-Cities. The first race was run by eighty-four runners. Today the race is often run by 12,000 to 18,000 runners.
In the mid-1970s it assumed the name Bix 7 to capitalize on the popularity of the 3 day Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Fest, held on the same weekend, and slowly began to grow. The draw of Bill Rodgers, then the worlds greatest marathoner, to the field in 1980 fueled interest and a huge growth in entries. Under the leadership of Race Director Ed Froehlich (statue dedicated in 2009), and the Quad-City Times newspaper putting its name on the race and promoting it heavily using its media reach and the addition of several corporate sponsorships, it has become one of the nation's classic road races. It is the largest non-marathon race in the Midwest, and draws runners from all over the country and the world. The race field is a who's who of world class runners and a celebration of past champions like Rodgers and 1984 Olympic Marathon Champion Joan Benoit Samuelson, both of whom compete yearly.
Jazz Festival
The Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival is a three-day music festival with many traditional jazzJazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
bands. It is held in tribute to jazz cornetist, pianist, composer, and Davenport native Bix Beiderbecke
Bix Beiderbecke
Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke was an American jazz cornetist, jazz pianist, and composer.With Louis Armstrong, Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s...
. In addition to the Bix Fest, the Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home...
Street Fest is held on the same dates as the Bix Festival and features live rock music, food, and vendors with no connection to Bix Beiderbecke. It began many years after the Bix Festival began and is sponsored by Wells Fargo bank. It has no affiliation with or connection to the Bix Beiderbecke Jazz Festival.
The Bix Fest is a four day festival held simultaneously in four different venues in Davenport, Iowa
Davenport, Iowa
Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...
. The main venue is the bandshell
W.D. Petersen Memorial Music Pavilion
W.D. Petersen Memorial Music Pavilion is located on Beiderbecke Drive in LeClaire Park, Davenport, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 and on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties in 1993...
in LeClaire Park
LeClaire Park
LeClaire Park is a public park located along the Mississippi River in downtown Davenport, Iowa, United States. It is situated between two other riverfront parks: Centennial Park on the west and a new park that is being developed to the east. The park includes monuments, a bandshell. a baseball...
on the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
. It is held on Thursday through Sunday, during a week in late July.
The festival was started in 1971 when Bill Donahoe's Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Band of New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
traveled to Davenport, Iowa
Davenport, Iowa
Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...
to play music at Bix's grave at the 40th anniversary of his death. The Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Society was founded in 1972, to help keep alive the memory and musical accomplishments of Beiderbecke alive.