TEXAS MUSIC IS LOVED EDDIE DURHAM For OCTOBER 16th 2014 Eddie Durham (1906–1987) was one of the most important Swing Era composer–arrangers. He was born in San Marcos, Texas, on this day, August 19 of 1906. Eddie began as a professional musician at age ten; at eighteen he was with the 101 Ranch Brass Band playing for circuses in the Southwest and traveling as far as New York City, where he performed in Yankee Stadium. In 1926 he joined a jazz group and toured the Southwest before joining the Blue Devils, who were based in Oklahoma City, in 1928. He then played with Benny Moten out of Kansas City from about 1929 to 1933. He moved to New York in 1934. n the 1940s Durham organized his own band, directed an all-girl orchestra, the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, and brought together a number of important Texas jazz men from the Kansas City era. During the 1950s and 1960s he performed less but still worked as an arranger for various groups. In the 1980s Durham toured Europe with the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band. He died in New York City on March 6, 1987. His hometown of San Marcos declared August 19 as Eddie Durham Day and in 2003 began an annual Eddie Durham Day Musical Tribute and Festival with the long-term goal to establish a Durham Family Archival Museum and Memorial Park.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 02:34:27 +0000
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