Eddie Durham
b. 19 August 1906, San Marcos, Texas, USA. As a child Durham worked in travelling shows with other musical members of his large family. In the mid-20s he worked in a number of southwest territory bands including Walter Page's Blue Devils from where he, and several others, moved to the Bennie Moten band. Up to this point Durham had been playing both guitar and trombone and now added arranging to his arsenal of skills. During the '30s he played in, and arranged for, the bands of Willie Bryant, Jimmie Lunceford and Count Basie. In the following decade he arranged for several noted swing bands including Artie Shaw's, and also worked closely with the one of the outstanding but neglected bands of the late '40s, the International Sweethearts Of Rhythm. Later in his career Durham arranged more and played less, but did return to the stage in the '70s and '80s with Eddie Barefield, Buddy Tate and other comrades from his Basie days. Durham's contributions to jazz are extensive and include helping develop and refine the electrically amplified guitar. More important still were his loosely swinging arrangements exemplified by such Basie classics as Moten Swing and the popular In The Mood for Glenn Miller. He was also co-composer of Topsy which became an unexpected hit for Cozy Cole in 1958.