Hill Country Jazz Festival turns 30 with salute to ‘America’s music’

The concert will open with the Texas State Jazz Orchestra.

Long before he joined the Texas State faculty in 1988, Dr. Keith Winking was a fan of jazz musician Eddie Durham (1906-1987). Winking had studied the music — but he didn’t know that the trombonist-guitarist-arranger was a native of San Marcos and all the significant contributions he had made.

“I hear his influence on all kinds of music today,” Winking says. Durham is credited with being a pioneer of the amplified guitar and the electric guitar. He started experimenting with resonators in 1929. In 1935, he recorded a guitar solo on “Hittin’ the Bottle” with Jimmie Lunceford on the Decca label.

As the founder of the Hill Country Jazz Festival and the Eddie Durham Celebration at Texas State University, Winking has seen the jazz program at the university grow from one part-time instructor to a faculty of 10 in the School of Music. Today, the university offers both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in jazz. In addition to the jazz orchestra, the university features a jazz band, jazz lab, and jazz combos.

An all-star big band made up of alumni and guests, will play a free concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Evans Auditorium as part of the Eddie Durham Celebration.

On Saturday, Feb. 9, the university will host The Count Basie Orchestra in the Evans Auditorium. The concert, part of the University Arts Series, will open with the Texas State Jazz Orchestra. Admission is $15 for the general public; $10 for faculty and staff; free for students.

The Count Basie orchestra began in 1935, but before that he and Durham were both members of the Bennie Moten Orchestra. From 1937 to 1938, Durham has been credited with writing the entire Count Basie book with many tunes that became classics. Winking says Durham was one of the first arrangers for Basie’s band and was very instrumental in their sound. He also arranged “In the Mood” for Glenn Miller and contributed to the music produced by the bands of Artie Shaw and Tommy Dorsey.

An all-star big band made up of alumni and guests, will play a free concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Evans Auditorium as part of the Eddie Durham Celebration. The band will include members of the Count Basie Orchestra and include a talk by Loren Schoenberg, senior scholar with the National Jazz Museum in Harlem.

Also Saturday, the San Marcos Campus will host jazz students from Texas middle and high schools. The Hill Country Jazz Festival does not select winners, but recognizes big bands, combos and individual instrumentalists with outstanding performance awards. Students from 16 Texas high schools and four middle schools will be playing throughout the day at Evans Auditorium and the Performing Arts Center.