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Topsy Durham

Author. Music Publisher. Marketing. Paralegal

About Me

www.EddieDurhamJazz.com ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Topsy M. Durham was born in Harlem and raised in Brooklyn, New York. A paralegal by profession, she spent five years working on this labor of love, a comprehensive biography of her father, the late jazz pioneer Eddie Durham. In 2004, she was granted Honorary Citizenship and the Key to the City of San Marcos, Texas, Eddie’s birthplace. She emceed and co-produced the second, third, and fourth outdoor Eddie Durham Music and Heritage Festivals in San Marcos. As president of Swingin’ the Blues! Durham Music Publishing, she oversees many of Eddie’s copyrights on such hits as “I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire”, and “Topsy”. As an activist in the jazz community, she has served on the Board of Directors of The International Women In Jazz, The Harlem Swing Dance Society, and AmSong, Inc., a grassroots organization that spearheaded the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1996. She co-produced and designed the cover for several CDs by NewYorkBlues Hall of Famer Michael Powers, and, although she is not a musician by trade, she played percussions on a few of the songs. Articles about her have appeared in The New York Times, Just Jazz Magazine, and the Swedish publication, Jefferson Blues Magazine. Visit DurhamJazz.com.

Contact Me

My Jazz Story

Author of: "Swingin' the Blues - The Virtuosity of EDDIE DURHAM" Volume 1 (1906-1940) on Amazon 2021. All info: www.EddieDurhamJazz.com June 2022 release: "Eddie Durham with The Harlem Blues & Jazz Band (1978-1987). AMERICAN JAZZ and N.A.R.A.S. Hall of Famer: EDDIE DURHAM, Sr. See my "Musicians Pages". Eddie Durham pioneered the Amplified Guitar, a "non-pressure performance technique" for brass, arranged IN THE MOOD, composed TOPSY, I DON'T WANT TO SET THE WORLD ON FIRE, SWINGIN THE BLUES, BLUES IN THE GROOVE, many more. "Of the major groups active during the Swing Era, only the orchestras of Duke Ellington and Earl Hines were unaffected directly by the talents of Eddie Durham." Professor Dave Oliphant Author is a former Board Member of seminal, grassroots organization AmSong, Inc. who spearheaded the SONNY BONO COPYRIGHT TERM EXTENSION ACT (1996) - signed by President William Clinton. -Member and former Board Member of The International Women In Jazz (IWJ). -Member of The Harlem Swing Dance Society. -President of Durham Music Publishing, Inc. (DurhamJazz.com). Author created & maintains websites: www.DurhamJazz.com www.EddieDurhamJazz.com www.MichaelPowers.com www.facebook.com/Eddie.DurhamJazz

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