Austin Jazz Hall of Fame Awards 2026: Sunday at the Long Center, Who's Being Honored

The Austin Jazz Society will induct four people into the Austin Jazz Hall of Fame on Sunday, Nov. 1, in the Rollins Studio Theatre at the Long Center, 701 W. Riverside Drive. The society's page lists doors at 6 p.m. and the show at 6:30; the Long Center's own listing says 6 p.m. Honorees are KUTX host Jay Trachtenberg, bassist Roscoe Beck, educator Dr. Beulah Agnes Curry Jones, and the late arranger Eddie Durham. According to ATX Things' read of the official pages on Oct. 31, ticket prices were not visible to us, so call the box office before you go.

What is happening Sunday night, and when do you need to be there?

The event is the 2026 Austin Jazz Hall of Fame Awards, presented by the Austin Jazz Society, a local nonprofit. It runs in the Rollins Studio Theatre, which the Long Center describes as a flexible black-box room. The Long Center's ticketing page lists a 150-minute runtime. If the show starts at 6:30, that puts the end around 9 p.m. That is our arithmetic, not a printed end time.

The two official pages disagree by half an hour. The Long Center lists the event at 6 p.m. The society's event page says "Doors: 6:00pm, Show: 6:30pm." Treat 6 p.m. as the time to be in the building, because the lobby is part of the program: the society says a group it calls the "Living Legends of Austin Jazz" will play in the lobby before the show and at intermission.

Hosting is Rabbi Neil Blumofe. Performers named on both pages are trumpeter Ephraim Owens, trombonist Andre Hayward, guitarist Mitch Watkins and vocalist Pamela Hart, with support from Hope Family Wines. Owens was himself a 2025 honoree, according to the Long Center's page for last year's ceremony.

Who is being honored, and why do those names matter?

The society says the awards honor "accomplished Austin born or based music professionals." The four names this year cover radio, the bandstand, a classroom and the arranger's desk. We did not attend and have not heard the program, so what follows is biography from published sources, not a preview of the night.

Jay Trachtenberg. He told Austin Monthly in 2021 that he arrived in the summer of 1978 to study social work at UT, and that by February 1985 he had an overnight jazz show on KUT running midnight to 5 a.m. on Friday nights while holding a full-time social-work job. He retired in November (2020, going by the date of that March 2021 interview) but kept hosting Sunday Morning Jazz. KUTX's schedule page lists that show Sundays 7 to 10 a.m.; we have not confirmed what airs tomorrow.

Roscoe Beck. Born in Poughkeepsie, New York, he moved to Austin in 1971, according to his Wikipedia biography. He has played with Robben Ford, Eric Johnson, Leonard Cohen and The Chicks, and has two Grammy nominations as a producer, per the same source.

Dr. Beulah Agnes Curry Jones. Born in Austin in April 1933, according to the Austin History Center's finding aid for her papers. The Austin Chronicle describes her as dean emeritus of fine arts and music at Huston-Tillotson, a graduate of Anderson High School who went on to Prairie View A&M, and still active at Ebenezer Baptist Church. The History Center dates her retirement from Huston-Tillotson to 2001.

Eddie Durham (1906–1987). The Texas State Historical Association calls him one of the most important Swing Era composer-arrangers. He was born in San Marcos, not Austin, and the society's page does not say how it counts him under its "Austin born or based" language, so we will not guess. The record is clear on the music. TSHA credits him with composing or arranging "Moten Swing," "Swinging the Blues," "Topsy," "John's Idea," "Sent for You Yesterday," "Jumpin' at the Woodside" and "Lunceford Special," with arrangements for Bennie Moten, Count Basie and Jimmie Lunceford, and a contribution to Glenn Miller's "In the Mood." A photo caption in the same entry says he pioneered the use of an amplified guitar in jazz.

Can you still get in, and what does it cost?

Here is what we could confirm and what we could not.

• Tickets are required for everyone, regardless of age, per the Long Center's event page.
• Public sale opened Aug. 14, with a members' presale before that, according to the society's page. We could not see live inventory and do not know whether the room has sold out.
• Price: not confirmed. The Long Center says its ticket prices are inclusive of fees and that 8.25% Texas sales tax may be added if required by law. We could not load a price list. The box office is (512) 474-5664, and it opens 90 minutes before showtime on weekend performances, per the Long Center's FAQ.
• No outside food or drink, and no professional cameras (detachable lenses) or video cameras, per the event page.
• Indoor event, with the Long Center's accessibility services listed on its site.

What is the parking and weather situation?

Parking at the Long Center is its own story right now. The venue's parking page, read Oct. 31, says Riverside Drive is fully closed under what it calls Phase 2 construction. Its main parking is the Palmer Events Center garage at $12, cashless, "unless special rates are posted." The page recommends the garage's Barton Springs Road entrance during construction, which it says may mean a longer walk but less congestion. There is no right turn onto Riverside from southbound South Lamar. We have not driven it. Add time, and look at the Long Center's page again Sunday afternoon.

The National Weather Service forecast for Austin has Sunday at 85° with morning patchy fog, then mostly sunny, a 3% chance of rain, and 66° Sunday night. Nobody needs an umbrella.

One more clock note: clocks go back an hour at 2 a.m. Sunday. Phones adjust on their own, and the show time does not move.

What else is happening in the same Sunday window?

Sunday evening is crowded. The free Día de los Muertos celebration at Moody Amphitheater runs 4 to 8 p.m., and the Long Center lists a ticketed Día de Muertos show by Ballet Folklórico de Austin at 5 p.m. Both are covered in our Día de los Muertos guide. ACL Live has Labyrinth in Concert at 8 p.m.

We reported on the Long Center earlier this month, too: see Batman in Concert and the Austin Symphony weekend. For more of what is on this week, the things to do in Austin page is updated daily.

FAQ

Where exactly is the Austin Jazz Hall of Fame Awards? In the Rollins Studio Theatre inside the Long Center for the Performing Arts, 701 W. Riverside Drive, Austin 78704, on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. The Long Center lists 6 p.m.; the Austin Jazz Society lists doors at 6 and the show at 6:30.

Who is being inducted in 2026? Jay Trachtenberg, Eddie Durham, Dr. Beulah Agnes Curry Jones and Roscoe Beck, according to the Austin Jazz Society and the Long Center. Hosting is Rabbi Neil Blumofe, with performances by Ephraim Owens, Andre Hayward, Mitch Watkins and Pamela Hart.

How much are tickets? We could not confirm a price. The Long Center says prices include fees, and sales tax may be added. Call the box office at (512) 474-5664 for current pricing and availability.

Is there parking at the Long Center? Yes. The Long Center lists the Palmer Events Center garage at $12, cashless, unless special rates are posted. Riverside Drive is closed for construction, and the venue recommends the garage's Barton Springs Road entrance.

Is it a family event? The event page says everyone, regardless of age, needs a ticket. It does not give an age recommendation, and the program runs about two and a half hours by the Long Center's listed runtime.