San Antonio jazz band leader Jim Cullum dies at 77

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Jim Cullum, whose San Antonio-based band used public radio to bring his classic jazz to the world, has died. He was 77.

His booking agent, Steve Frumkin, told The Associated Press that Cullum died Sunday at his San Antonio home of an apparent heart attack.

Cullum, a cornetist who led the Jim Cullum Jazz Band, performed for decades at his San Antonio River Walk nightclub called The Landing. His public radio program — first called “Riverwalk: Live From the Landing,” then “Riverwalk Jazz” — started in 1989 and ran for over 20 years, eventually being syndicated nationwide and around the world.

Barry Brake of the Jazz Protagonists told the San Antonio Express-News, “Jim and the band brought so many people to jazz, even people who might never have listened to it.”