The Happy Jazz Band was formed in 1962 by Jim Cullum with his son, Jim Cullum, Jr. in San Antonio, Texas. Devoted to jazz from between the World Wars, the Happy Jazz Band was perhaps the foremost exponent of Dixieland in the Southwest. Jim Cullum, Jr. continued the band after his father passed as the Jim Cullum Jazz Band. The Jim Cullum Collection consists of tape recordings of the Happy Jazz Band and the Jim Cullum Jazz Band and covers over thirty years of the band's performances. In addition, the collection contains performances by other noteworthy performers including Jack Teagarden and Bobby Hackett, as well as lesser known, but important jazz musicians from Texas, such as cornetist Garner Clark.