NATIONWIDE — Local public television station WVIA and Chiaroscuro Records will debut a WVIA original documentary titled “WHAM Re-Bop-Boom-Bam: The Swing Jazz of Eddie Durham” in February.

The film will be broadcast on over 250 American Public Television (APT) member stations nationwide. 

Eddie Durham was an American jazz guitarist, trombonist, composer and arranger, a WVIA press release noted. He is credited with being the first person to record an amplified guitar when he was featured on the 1935 Jimmie Lunceford recording of Durham’s arrangement of “Hittin’ the Bottle.”

Durham began to experiment with his acoustic guitar as early as 1929, enhancing its volume with an affixed pie pan. He also played a National steel guitar (with a resonator) through a microphone at live shows.

“They didn’t have any sound amplifiers. So I’d get any kind of amp I could find and sit it on the corner of the stage and run a cord to the guitar, and that was it,” Durham once said. “And if we were playing in a big auditorium, I’d go directly into the sound system. You couldn’t play rhythm like that because it was too loud. I used to blow the lights in a lot of places.”

“Eddie Durham was an innovator who helped shape a whole era of American music, no question,” said WVIA producer Kris Hendrickson. “But he also had that rare gift of being able to bring people together, in bands and in life, across multiple generations and widely varying social backgrounds. He found the best in everyone, and everyone who knew him was a better musician and a better person for it.” 

Produced and directed by Hendrickson and with executive producer Ben Payavis II and music director and producer Loren Schoenberg of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, the film will be presented and distributed by American Public Television. “WHAM Re-Bop-Boom-Bam” will air on public television stations nationwide in February. Check local listings for airdates. 

Durham’s story is told through interviews with an array of jazz musicians such as Russel Malone, Vincent Gardner and James Chirillo; jazz historians Robert O’Meally, Dennis Spragg and more. It also includes interviews with Durham’s daughter Marcia and sons Eric and Terrance. 

“Above all, it’s a story of talent, perseverance and love,” said Schoenberg. 

For a full list of PBS stations carrying “WHAM Re-Bop-Boom-Bam: The Swing Jazz of Eddie Durham,” visit www.whamrebopboombam.carrd.co/, or contact your local station directly.