HPPAA TEXAS JAZZ HISTORY PROJECT
EDDIE DURHAM
TEXAS JAZZ HISTORY
IN PERFORMANCE
COMPOSER ◆ ARRANGER ◆ TROMBONIST ◆ GUITAR INNOVATOR
HPPAA brings the music and legacy of San Marcos-born jazz
pioneer Eddie Durham into live performance, historical
interpretation, and community conversation—connecting Texas
jazz history with audiences today.
WHY EDDIE DURHAM MATTERS
A Texas innovator who
helped shape swing
HPPAA Eddie Durham Tribute ◆ Texas Music Museum ◆ June 21, 2026
This HPPAA project treats Durham’s legacy not as a static memorial, but as living repertoire—researched, arranged, performed, discussed, and returned to the communities that shaped it.
Born in San Marcos in 1906, Eddie Durham became one of the most influential composer-arrangers of the Swing Era. A guitarist, trombonist, composer, and arranger, he contributed to the orchestras of Bennie Moten, Jimmie Lunceford, Count Basie, and Glenn Miller. He was also among the earliest musicians to expand the role of the amplified guitar in jazz.
Durham’s work lives in the music itself. His writing helped establish the riff-based drive and clarity associated with Kansas City swing, while compositions and arrangements including “Topsy,” “Moten Swing,” and “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire” continue to connect his Texas beginnings with the broader history of American music.
HISTORY IN PERFORMANCE
HOW THE HPPAA PROJECT WORKS
RESEARCH + HISTORY
Archival discovery, scholarship, and historical context identify the people, places, and musical ideas behind Durham’s legacy.
NEW ARRANGEMENTS
Durham-related repertoire is adapted for contemporary players without losing the rhythmic language, clarity, and swing at its center.
LIVE PERFORMANCE
Double Vision Jazz Ensemble and guest artists return the music to the stage through concerts, lecture-demonstrations, and public programs.
PUBLIC CONVERSATION
Museums, festivals, educators, historians, and audiences connect performance with Texas history, memory, and community experience.
A CONTINUING HPPAA PROJECT
One project. Three public chapters.
. . .
June 21
2026 — COMPLETED
Texas Music Museum
Austin
HPPAA launched the tribute through live performance, historical remarks, new interpretations, and community storytelling.
OCT 10
2026 — UPCOMING
Eddie Durham Jazz Festival
Eddie Durham Park · San Marcos
Double Vision brings Durham-related music and historical commentary back to the city and neighborhood that formed his earliest musical life.
MAR 7
2027 — SCHEDULED
Eddie Durham Comes Home
Texas State Performing Arts Center · San Marcos
HPPAA’s community-grant project, combines performance, history, and public engagement. Double Vision Jazz Ensemble with guest artists
THE PROJECT CONTINUES
HPPAA’s Eddie Durham work continues across performance, historical interpretation, education, and public engagement. Following the 2026 Texas Music Museum tribute and Eddie Durham Jazz Festival in San Marcos, Eddie Durham Comes Home: Texas Jazz History in Performance returns the story to San Marcos on March 7, 2027.
COMPLETED PROJECT ◆ JUNE 21, 2026
Eddie Durham Tribute at Texas Music Museum
On June 21, 2026, HPPAA presented the Eddie Durham Tribute at Texas Music Museum in Austin. Double Vision Jazz Ensemble was joined by guest artists Andre Hayward, Tommy Howard, and James Fenner, with opening historical remarks by Texas author and jazz historian Dave Oliphant.
Set in a museum devoted to Texas music, the program connected scholarship, live performance, new interpretation, and audience conversation. It also established a flexible repertoire and narrative framework that HPPAA can carry into future San Marcos and Central Texas programs.
PRESENTED BY
H Project Performing Arts Association featuring Double Vision Jazz Ensemble
SUPPORTED IN PART BY
An Elevate Grant of Austin Arts, Culture, Music & Entertainment
Press + Institutional Recognition
Independent media, public arts agencies, and cultural institutions document HPPAA’s Eddie Durham programming and the June 2026 tribute at Texas Music Museum.
View Eddie Durham Coverage & Recognition →ARTISTS + VOICES
◆ Double Vision Jazz Ensemble
◆ Dave Oliphant — historical remarks
◆ Andre Hayward — trombone
◆ Tommy Howard — guitar
◆ James Fenner — percussion
SELECTED PROGRAM MUSIC
◆ “Moten Swing”
◆ "Teo over Topsy” — a new arrangement connecting modern jazz language with Durham’s “Topsy”
◆ "Caribbean Jam"
◆ “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire” — ballad feature for Andre Hayward
◆ “Countless Blues” — guitar feature for Tommy Howard
Featured Guest Artists
TEXAS MUSIC MUSEUM ◆ AUSTIN
Andre Hayward — Trombone
An acclaimed Texas trombonist and educator whose powerful, lyrical playing brought Durham’s brass legacy into the present.
Tommy Howard — Guitar
A veteran Austin jazz guitarist whose performance connected Durham’s guitar innovations with today’s Texas jazz community.
James Fenner — Percussion
A deeply experienced Austin percussionist who added rhythmic color, groove, and a distinct contemporary voice to the tribute.
THE CORE ENSEMBLE
Double Vision Jazz Ensemble
Double Vision Jazz Ensemble is the performing core of HPPAA’s Eddie Durham project. Co-led by composers and improvisers Hank Hehmsoth and John Mills, the ensemble connects original contemporary jazz with education, Texas music history, and interdisciplinary public programs.
For this project, Double Vision uses performance as a form of public humanities: music, historical explanation, new arrangement, and audience experience work together to make Durham’s legacy audible and relevant now.
Hank Hehmsoth — Piano ◆ John Mills — Saxophone / Flute ◆ Utah Hamrick — Bass ◆ Aaron Easley — Drums
LEARN MORE ABOUT EDDIE DURHAM
Extend the page beyond a single concert with credible public-history resources and clear
pathways into HPPAA’s larger Texas Jazz History program.
Handbook of Texas
Read a biographical overview of Eddie Durham’s life and influence.
READ BIOGRAPHY →Eddie Durham Jazz Fest
Explore the annual San Marcos celebration presented by the Calaboose African American History Museum.
LEARN MORE →HPPAA Texas Jazz History
Discover performances, research, arrangements, and public programs connecting Texas jazz history with audiences today.
READ BIOGRAPHY →BRING TEXAS JAZZ HISTORY TO YOUR COMMUNITY
HPPAA works with museums, libraries, schools, universities, festivals, historical
organizations, and community presenters to create concerts,
lecture-demonstrations, workshops, and public-history programs.