FOX LAKE — Bunny Berigan's hometown will host its annual salute to the jazz legend on May 15 through 17 when it kicks off one of the best Dixieland Jazz/Swing events in the United States. Yes, the town is small, actually not much bigger then 101 years ago when "Bunny" was born, but the Bunny Berigan Jazz Jubilee is a gem in the realm of jazz festivals from coast to coast.
This year the jazz jubilee pulls in some of the fantastic musicians from around Wisconsin such as the Rev. Al Townsend, Steve Clay, Harold Smith, Larry Busch and David McGregor, plus it brings home Wisconsinites such as Bob Schulz and Bob Hirsch, both living in California. Then there is Brad Pregeant, living in Colorado but so well known in Wisconsin, boarding a plane to play the weekend in Fox Lake. It would make up a booklet to just talk about all the excellent musicians descending on Fox Lake for this wonderful weekend in May.
Just a month after Bunny Berigan's death in 1942 one of the nations leading Jazz critics prophesied that, "One of these years they are going to start talking about Bunny Berigan. They are going to rave about his trumpeting feats, they are going to dig out his records and they are going to play them for the next generation, pointing out passages to prove that Bunny was one of the true greats of all Jazz." The critic was right and in 2009, 101 years after Bunny's death, the 36th event is planned, honoring him and the music he played. Hoping to pass it to the next generation, the Bunny Berigan Jazz Jubilee welcomes youth 18 and younger into the Jubilee free of charge.
This year the event is held in two venues, the Fox Lake Community Center and the American Legion Hall in downtown Fox Lake. The venues are two blocks apart, making for an easy stroll from one band to another. Breaks in the music have also been planned so that the audience has 15 minutes to get from one site to another, allowing them to "not miss a note" that is played. There is something about being in Fox Lake, the home of the man who was nationally billed in his bookings around the nation as the "Miracle Man of Swing." Bunny played with a kind of reckless abandon but with great improvisation. His playing was spontaneous and he communicated with the audience ... with tone that was full. His vibrato on just a single note was enough to convey that feeling of surging, forward momentum, that is the essence of swing. Mark Gossink of Fox Lake put together a booklet on Bunny in 1974 where he quoted that jazz fans from all over the world know "it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing," and Bunny had that swing.
The schedule for the event is:
Session 1 (Friday)
4-6 p.m. - Mullin's Drive-In Free Concert
Bunny Berigan Memorial Band
Community Center
7-8:45 p.m. - Beal St. Jazz
9:15 - 11 p.m. - Bunny Berigan Memorial Band
American Legion
7-10 p.m. - Regular Friday night dance music
Session 2 (Saturday afternoon)
Community Center
1-4 p.m. - Larry Busch Big Band
4:15-5:45 p.m. - Chicago Salty Dog Jazz Band
American Legion
1-2:30 p.m. - Bunny Berigan Memorial Band
2:45-4 p.m. - Vagabond Reeds
4:15-5:45 p.m. - Dixie Doodlers
Session 3 (Saturday Evening)
Community Center
6-7:30 - Vagabond Reeds
7:45 - 9:15 - Dixie Doodlers
American Legion
1-2:30 p.m. - Bunny Berigan Memorial Band
1:45=4 p.m. - Vagabond Reeds
4:15-5:45 p.m. - Dixie Doodlers
Session 3 (Saturday evening)
6-7:30 p.m. - Vagabond Reeds
7:45-9:15 p.m. - Dixie Doodlers
American Legion
6-7:30 p.m. - Bunny Berigan Memorial Band
7:45-9:15 p.m. - Chicago Salty Dogs Jazz Band
Sunday Morning
11 a.m. - Bunny Berigan graveside service at St. Mary's Cemetery featuring the Bunny Berigan Memorial Band
Session 4 (Sunday afternoon)
Community Center
Noon - 1:15 - Beaver Dam High School Jazz Ensemble
1:30 - 3 p.m. - Vagabond Reeds
3:15 - 5 p.m. - Bunny Berigan Memorial Band
American Legion
1 - 3:45 - Monday Morning Dixieland Band
4-5 p.m. - Vagabond Reeds
Tours of Fox Lake on Saturday begin at 9:45 and 10 a.m. and again at 10:45 and 11 a.m. on wagons pulled by antique tractors. This tour highlights the hometown that Bunny grew up in, complete with pictures to help take the audience back to 1908 to 1942.
Ticket tables in the Fox Lake Community Center will open at 3 p.m. on Friday, May 15. Individual tickets per session are $30 each, an all event pass is $115, and the wagon tour ride is $5. Fine food will be served both at the Community Center and the American Legion Clubhouse, plus all restaurants, bars, and Mullin's Drive-In will be serving food all weekend. Further information can be obtained by calling Julie Flemming at (920) 928-6094, or accessing the Web site at www.bunnyberiganjazzjubilee.