Geoff got up just before my alarm went at 8.30. He disappeared, so I had my shower and got dressed. He reappeared, and we went down to get a coffee from Urban Grind. We sat for a moment, but then walked back to the hotel because he wanted to practise. I headed to the bus station to buy myself a ticket to Chicago. Not the nicest place to hang out, but will do the job. I was back at the hotel in time for a 10.30 convoy pick-up, which was actually an 11am pick-up. I quickly went online while waiting.
The convoy arrived, and it was a bit squishy fitting everyone in. I gave up my seat in Sherry's car up for Geoff, who was running around lost looking for a seat, and then trying to squeeze into the back of Crystal's car. I intended to stay at the hotel, but Betty said I should squeeze in. We drove to Moline, to Frank's Pizza. They put on a massive buffet for us, with salad and bread and rather good pizza. A lot of gifts were exchanged - I got a John Deere pen. I decided to look around Josh and Crystal's house to get ideas for presents. The bill was again mysteriously paid.
We then drove to the Putnam Museum to see Andy Schumm's band's gig, with Andy on Bix's cornet. (Here is the video from the previous year - same personnel as far as I can tell.) They blew me away. Andy sounds so much like Bix that I could have believed he was in the room, and the whole band sounded so authentic that they could have been off a record. Vince Giordano is a fearsome musician. He has a huge sound on all three instruments, and a wicked sense of humour. Josh's drumming is tasteful, understated, and bordering on the comical, but always clever. I was sitting next to a couple from out of town who'd stumbled on the gig by seeing a programme, and asked me what 'Bix' meant. I explained it all to them, and they ended up really enjoying the gig. I was sorry to not have taken my camera, because I could have taken a close-up of Bix's cornet. Oh well.
It was only Ernie running people back to the Blackhawk and so he did two trips - I waited in the sun for the second wave. We were supposed to drop some Wolverines CDs at the Bix Society office, but there was no one there, so we dropped them at the Col Ballroom instead. Ernie then dropped me and Harry at the Blackhawk. Geoff was on a mission to get a phone card, so got a volunteer to drive him to get one. Meanwhile, I got a festival programme and planned where to go. Geoff came back and practised. I decided to take the 8.15 shuttle to the Col, and was considering going to the supermarket to get something for dinner, but Geoff was keen to get something from the place on the corner that we'd gone the first night. So we headed there about 6.10. This time, I had the beef stir-fry, and he had the nachos. It was nice - I also had strawberry lemonade, which was strange.
We went back to the room and dozed in front of the TV for a while, then got ready to be picked up by the 8.15 shuttle. We got on the audience shuttle, but there was no sign of the band. Geoff got off and found them, but came back and got on because there was only one seat in the band shuttle. I told him not to be silly and to get on it and leave me on the audience shuttle. He did. Our shuttle (which had the grand total of three people on it) got to the Col at about 8.30. I realised that I'd incredibly stupidly left my pass at the hotel, and so spoke to the volunteers about it. They didn't seem to care.
I took some photos of Josh's band, which won't be very good because it was so dark. His band sounded very good, but the acoustics meant that it sounded messy. I can't wait to hear them in the Gold Room. The Wolverines' set was a bit scrappy, by their own admission. They were too far away from each other, and so couldn't hear themselves. I was taking photos at the side right at the front, and then Agnes came up the front and told me where she and Betty were sitting. I walked up to the balcony and found them, once I'd finished taking photos, and sat to listen to the rest of the gig. It's an enormous place, and it was nearly full. There was another band set up at the side, and they actually sounded better than the bands on the main stage - the acoustics were fairly atrocious. But Bix had played there, as well as greats like Frank Sinatra and Guy Lombardo, and it has lovely draped fabrics and lamps, and a giant mirror ball. According to Geoff and Ernie, there used to be posters around the ballroom of people who'd played there, but they'd been taken down. A great shame.
There was a shuttle at 10pm, and the next one wasn't until 11pm, so I chose the 10pm, but not before saying hi to Josh and congratulating him on the band's sound. Got the shuttle back with no problems, and Geoff was back soon after. We had a bit of a post-mortem, and then had a relatively early night.
The convoy arrived, and it was a bit squishy fitting everyone in. I gave up my seat in Sherry's car up for Geoff, who was running around lost looking for a seat, and then trying to squeeze into the back of Crystal's car. I intended to stay at the hotel, but Betty said I should squeeze in. We drove to Moline, to Frank's Pizza. They put on a massive buffet for us, with salad and bread and rather good pizza. A lot of gifts were exchanged - I got a John Deere pen. I decided to look around Josh and Crystal's house to get ideas for presents. The bill was again mysteriously paid.
We then drove to the Putnam Museum to see Andy Schumm's band's gig, with Andy on Bix's cornet. (Here is the video from the previous year - same personnel as far as I can tell.) They blew me away. Andy sounds so much like Bix that I could have believed he was in the room, and the whole band sounded so authentic that they could have been off a record. Vince Giordano is a fearsome musician. He has a huge sound on all three instruments, and a wicked sense of humour. Josh's drumming is tasteful, understated, and bordering on the comical, but always clever. I was sitting next to a couple from out of town who'd stumbled on the gig by seeing a programme, and asked me what 'Bix' meant. I explained it all to them, and they ended up really enjoying the gig. I was sorry to not have taken my camera, because I could have taken a close-up of Bix's cornet. Oh well.
It was only Ernie running people back to the Blackhawk and so he did two trips - I waited in the sun for the second wave. We were supposed to drop some Wolverines CDs at the Bix Society office, but there was no one there, so we dropped them at the Col Ballroom instead. Ernie then dropped me and Harry at the Blackhawk. Geoff was on a mission to get a phone card, so got a volunteer to drive him to get one. Meanwhile, I got a festival programme and planned where to go. Geoff came back and practised. I decided to take the 8.15 shuttle to the Col, and was considering going to the supermarket to get something for dinner, but Geoff was keen to get something from the place on the corner that we'd gone the first night. So we headed there about 6.10. This time, I had the beef stir-fry, and he had the nachos. It was nice - I also had strawberry lemonade, which was strange.
We went back to the room and dozed in front of the TV for a while, then got ready to be picked up by the 8.15 shuttle. We got on the audience shuttle, but there was no sign of the band. Geoff got off and found them, but came back and got on because there was only one seat in the band shuttle. I told him not to be silly and to get on it and leave me on the audience shuttle. He did. Our shuttle (which had the grand total of three people on it) got to the Col at about 8.30. I realised that I'd incredibly stupidly left my pass at the hotel, and so spoke to the volunteers about it. They didn't seem to care.
I took some photos of Josh's band, which won't be very good because it was so dark. His band sounded very good, but the acoustics meant that it sounded messy. I can't wait to hear them in the Gold Room. The Wolverines' set was a bit scrappy, by their own admission. They were too far away from each other, and so couldn't hear themselves. I was taking photos at the side right at the front, and then Agnes came up the front and told me where she and Betty were sitting. I walked up to the balcony and found them, once I'd finished taking photos, and sat to listen to the rest of the gig. It's an enormous place, and it was nearly full. There was another band set up at the side, and they actually sounded better than the bands on the main stage - the acoustics were fairly atrocious. But Bix had played there, as well as greats like Frank Sinatra and Guy Lombardo, and it has lovely draped fabrics and lamps, and a giant mirror ball. According to Geoff and Ernie, there used to be posters around the ballroom of people who'd played there, but they'd been taken down. A great shame.
There was a shuttle at 10pm, and the next one wasn't until 11pm, so I chose the 10pm, but not before saying hi to Josh and congratulating him on the band's sound. Got the shuttle back with no problems, and Geoff was back soon after. We had a bit of a post-mortem, and then had a relatively early night.
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