Eddie's brothers and cousins attended a home music school, learning multiple instruments and music notation—unusual for African Indian Americans. They toured with SW Circus, vaudeville, and minstrel troupes. Eddie became a master arranger, composer, trombonist, and guitarist. Major bandleaders, both black and white, hired him to produce big-band swing hits: Bennie Moten, Count Basie, Jimmie Lunceford, The Sweethearts of Rhythm, Glenn Miller, The Ink Spots, and Harry James.

Eddie orchestrated the "dueling tenors" of Lester Young and Herschel Evans in the Count Basie Orchestra. He choreographed brass sections, co-composed "I Don't Want To Set The World on Fire", and is the arranger of Glenn Miller’s version of "In The Mood", later inducted into the NARAS Hall of Fame. Eddie recorded hits on amplified and resonator guitars with Jimmie Lunceford's Orchestra; electric guitar for John Hammond, Sr.'s iconic "KC5 Sessions"; and Dave Dexter's sessions on songs with a new guitar sound, "I Want A Little Girl" and "Magic Carpet."

The Swingin' The Blues book series are: "The Virtuosity of Eddie Durham," "Eddie Durham and the Ladies of Jazz," and "Eddie Durham with The Harlem Blues & Jazz Band," collectively featuring over 200 photos and a full Durham family discography which was nominated for the A.R.S.C. Award.

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REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, EXHIBITS, FESTIVALS

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Calaboose African American History Museum - Exhibit

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Topsy M. Durham: Speech at "WHAM" (PBS) Documentary Screening (Julliard 2024)

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JAZZ on the TUBE  - audio interview by Lester Perkins​

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THE SYNCOPATED TIMES  - collection of articles by Dave Radlauer 

- links to hear the music (at the end of this article, by Topsy M. Durham)

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Texas State Historical Asso. - disquisition by Dave Oliphant

National Jazz Museum in Harlem audio interview by Loren Schoenberg

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Pictorial Discography

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ALL ABOUT JAZZ - Author profile

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Let's SWING DANCE - Classes in world famous Harlem, NY

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