Davenport Blues is a 1925 jazz composition written and recorded by

Bix Beiderbecke Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke ( ; March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931) was an American jazz cornetist, pianist and composer. Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s, a cornet player noted for an inventive lyrical a ...

and released as a

Gennett Gennett Records () was an American record company and label in Richmond, Indiana, United States, which flourished in the 1920s and produced the Gennett, Starr, Champion, Superior, and Van Speaking labels. The company also produced some Supertone, ...

78. The song has become a jazz and pop standard.

Background

"Davenport Blues" was recorded by Bix Beiderbecke and His Rhythm Jugglers at the Gennett studio on Monday, January 26, 1925, in

Richmond, Indiana Richmond () is a city in eastern Wayne County, Indiana, United States. Bordering the state of Ohio, it is the county seat of Wayne County. In the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 35,720. It is the principal c ...

, and released as Gennett 5654 backed with "Toddlin' Blues" as the A side. The band consisted of

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombone, trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-to ...

on trombone, Paul Madeira Mertz on piano, Don Murray on clarinet, Howdy Quicksell on banjo, Tom Gargano on drums, and Bix Beiderbecke on cornet.

Hoagy Carmichael Hoagland Howard "Hoagy" Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981) was an American musician, composer, songwriter, actor, author and lawyer. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s and 1940s, a ...

was present at the recording session. The title derives from the name of Bix Beiderbecke's hometown of

Davenport, Iowa Davenport ( ) is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. It is situated along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state. Davenport had a population of 101,724 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cen ...

. The instrumental is made up of a four bar introduction, a 16 bar verse followed by a 32 bar chorus, after which the verse and chorus are repeated with a 2 bar extended ending. The same melody is used for the verses, but both choruses have different melodies though nearly identical chords. Only on the last refrain of the chorus do we hear the melody which can be identified as "Davenport Blues". Both choruses end in different chord progressions. In the first chorus Bix plays breaks over chords. In 2020, Juliet Kurtzman and Pete Malinverni recorded the song on the ''Candlelight: Love in the Time of Cholera'' album.

Cover versions

* Miff Mole and His Molers, 1927, Okeh 40848 * Charleston Chasers under the direction of

Red Nichols Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols (May 8, 1905 – June 28, 1965) was an American jazz cornetist, composer, and jazz bandleader. He was one of the most prolific and influential jazz musicians in the late 1920s and early 1930s, appearing on over 4,000 ...

, 1927, Columbia 909D * Adrian Rollini and His Orchestra, 1934, Decca 359 * Bunny Berigan and His Orchestra, 1938, Victor 26121B *

Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombone, trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-to ...

, 1938, Victor 26135 *

Gil Evans Ian Ernest Gilmore Evans (né Green; May 13, 1912 – March 20, 1988) was a Canadian Americans, Canadian–American jazz pianist, Music arranger, arranger, composer and bandleader. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest orchestrators i ...

, 1959, from the album ''Great Jazz Standards'' with

Johnny Coles John Coles (July 3, 1926 – December 21, 1997) was an American jazz trumpeter. Early life Coles was born in Trenton, New Jersey, on July 3, 1926. He grew up in Philadelphia and was self-taught on trumpet. Later life and career Coles spent his ...

on trumpet *

Clare Fischer Douglas Clare Fischer (October 22, 1928 – January 26, 2012) was an American keyboardist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. After graduating from Michigan State University (from which, five decades later, he would receive an honorary doctorat ...

, 1963, from the album '' Surging Ahead'' *

Jack Teagarden Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden (August 20, 1905 – January 15, 1964) was an United States, American jazz Trombone, trombonist and singer. He led both of his bands himself and was a sideman for Paul Whiteman's orchestra. From 1946 to 1951, he played ...

Bobby Hackett Robert Leo Hackett (January 31, 1915 – June 7, 1976) was a versatile American jazz musician who played swing music, Dixieland jazz and mood music, now called easy listening, on trumpet, cornet, and guitar. He played Swing with the bands ...

Eddie Condon Albert Edwin Condon (November 16, 1905 – August 4, 1973) was an American jazz banjoist, guitarist, and bandleader. A leading figure in Chicago jazz, he also played piano and sang. He also owned a self-named night club in New York City. Early ...

Yank Lawson John Rhea "Yank" Lawson (May 3, 1911 – February 18, 1995) was an American jazz trumpeter known for Dixieland and swing music. Born John Lausen in 1911, from 1933 to 1935 he worked in Ben Pollack's orchestra and after that became a founding ...

and the V-Disc All Stars on V-Disc No. 404B, 1945. *

Scott Robinson Scott Robinson may refer to: * Scott Robinson (jazz musician) (born 1959), American jazz musician * Scott Robinson (ice hockey) (born 1964), Canadian National Hockey League player * Scott Robinson (singer) (born 1979), English singer in the boy ban ...

, 2000, from the album ''Melody From the Sky'' * Jimmy Lytell Pathe Actuelle 11557, Perfect 14956, Feb., 1928; Jazz Oracle, 2012 * Russ Freeman * Barbara Sutton Curtis *

Dill Jones Dillwyn Owen Paton "Dill" Jones (19 August 1923 – 22 June 1984), was a Welsh jazz stride pianist. Biography Dill Jones was born in Newcastle Emlyn, Carmarthenshire, Wales, on 19 August 1923. He was brought up in Talgarth and Llandovery, wit ...

, 1972, from the album ''Davenport Blues'' *

Kenny Werner Kenny Werner (born November 19, 1951) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and author. Early life Born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 19, 1951, and then growing up in Oceanside, Long Island, Werner began playing and performing at a young ...

, 1977 *

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, and h ...

, 1978, from the album ''

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

'' *

Dutch Swing College Band The Dutch Swing College Band (DSCB) is a traditional dixieland band founded on 5 May 1945 by bandleader and clarinettist/ saxophonist Peter Schilperoort. Highly successful in their native home of the Netherlands, the band quickly found an in ...

Randy Sandke Jay Randall Sandke (born May 5, 1949 in Chicago, Illinois) is a jazz trumpeter and guitarist. While a student at Indiana University in 1968, he and Michael Brecker started a jazz-rock band (Mrs. Seamon's Sound Band) that performed at the Notre D ...

* Lawson-Haggart Jazz Band * Bix movie soundtrack album, 1991 * Dice of Dixie Crew *

Dick Hyman Richard Hyman (born March 8, 1927) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Over a 70-year career, he has worked as a pianist, organist, arranger, music director, electronic musician, and composer. He was named a National Endowment for the Arts ...

Geoff Muldaur Geoff Muldaur (born August 12, 1943) is an American singer, guitarist and composer, who was a founding member of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band and a member of Paul Butterfield's Better Days. Career Having established a reputation with the Kweskin J ...

* Patrick Artero, 2006 * Scandinavian Rhythm Boys, 2007 * Harry Gold and His Pieces of Eight *

David Sanborn David William Sanborn (July 30, 1945 – May 12, 2024) was an American alto saxophonist. He worked in many musical genres; his solo recordings typically blended jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He began playing the saxophone at the age o ...

, 2010 *

Bucky Pizzarelli John Paul "Bucky" Pizzarelli (January 9, 1926 – April 1, 2020) was an American jazz guitarist. He worked for NBC as a staffman from 1964, including for Dick Cavett (1971) and ABC with Bobby Rosengarden in (1952). Musicians he collaborate ...

, 2012 * Ryan Truesdell, 2015 * Juliet Kurtzman and Pete Malinverni, ''Candlelight: Love in the Time of Cholera'', 2020 *Josh Duffee's Greystone Monarchs, 2024 *Forrest Hill Owls, 2024 Davenport Blues V disc 404

References

* ''Bix: Man and Legend'' by Richard M. Sudhalter & Philip R. Evens (Quartet; 1974). * ''Bix: The Definitive Biography of a Jazz Legend'' by Jean Pierre Lion with the assistance of Gabriella Page-Fort, Michael B. Heckman and Norman Field (Continuum, New York / London; 2004). * "Our Language." Episode 3, ''Jazz'' (television miniseries) by Ken Burns. (PBS Home Video/Warner Home Video; 2001).
Red Hot Jazz Archives. Bix Beiderbecke. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
*''Bix'' by Scott Chantler (Gallery 13; 2020). *''Bix Beiderbecke: Jazz age genius'' by David R. Collins (Greensboro, N.C.: Morgan Reynolds, Inc.; 1998). *''Bix Beiderbecke'' by Burnett James (New York: A.S. Barnes and Company, Inc.; 1959).

External links

Finding Bix: The Life and Afterlife of a Jazz Legend by Brendan Wolfe. Retrieved 2 September 2024.

''dpl Quad City Memory''

''Bix Beiderbecke Resources: A Bixography''

- A series of nineteen one-half-hour radio programs from 1971. Includes interviews with Frank Trumbauer, Louis Armstrong, Gene Krupa, Eddie Condon, Bing Crosby and Bix' brother Charles "Burnie" Beiderbecke
The Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Society, Davenport, Iowa

"Davenport Blues"
via

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

- An mp3 of Beiderbecke's first recording under his own name.
''Celebrating Bix''. A tribute album created to commemorate the centenary of Bix's birth by some of the world's finest traditional jazz musicians. Retrieved 2 September 2024.

"Bixology" (an excerpt)
by Brendan Wolfe
Jazz.com

''Twelve Essential Bix Beiderbecke Performances''
by Brendan Wolfe
Jazz.com

Quad City Times Bix 7, Davenport, IA
{{authority control 1925 songs 1920s jazz standards Jazz compositions Instrumentals American jazz songs