Swingin' the Blues - Eddie Durham Celebration

The 2022 Eddie Durham Celebration at Parker Jazz Club, Austin
Swingin' the Blues written by Count Basie and Eddie Durham. First recording by Count Basie and His Orchestra (February 16, 1938)
Written and arranged by Eddie Durham, one of the most important and underappreciated artists in jazz and American music history.
Irish and Mexican on his father’s side, Native American and Afro-American on his mother’s, in his childhood Durham grew up wearing his hair long and braided, Native American-style.
Born and raised in rural San Marcos, Texas (1906), he learned to ride, drive cattle, shoot and hunt rattlesnakes. He was also a fine carpenter.
One of the legendary Oklahoma City Blue Devils, he was a mainstay of the Count Basie band.
A first rate composer and arranger, he wrote for Artie Shaw and Glenn Miller and is reputed to have been the key arranger on “In the Mood”, the anthem of the Big Band Swing era.
As if that weren’t enough, Durham was the pioneer of the jazz electric guitar (Charlie Christian quoted him in his early recordings). Durham was also a virtuosic trombone player who invented the Non-Pressure technique for the trombone.