Ephraim Owens was briefly back behind the horn last weekend. This weekend, musicians from Austin’s jazz scene and beyond will come together to help keep him there for as long as they can.
The renowned trumpeter was diagnosed with chronic heart failure in 2021 and has since faced an uphill battle of treatment and recovery, stacking up medical bills and sidelining the performer from his usual gigs around town and on the road with the Tedeschi Trucks Band, Mumford and Sons, and more. After a recent eight-month hospitalization, Owens tentatively took the stage with his quartet at Teresa Lozano Long Community Day, serenading the audience with the spirited horn-playing that cemented him in the Austin Music Hall of Fame.
“His health trajectory is not as dire as it once was, but still, he needs a lot of help,” says longtime friend and musical collaborator David Pulkingham. “I’m super glad that we live in a town that has a kind of community that rallies around its own.”
The Heart Behind the Horn benefit concert lassos many of the musicians Owens has played for, with, and alongside – including Pulkingham, Gary Clark Jr., Adrian Quesada, the Greyhounds, and many others – for a 12-hour performance at the Continental Club this Sunday, Sept. 14, organized by Austin Jazz Society.
Society president Michael Mordecai watched the charismatic musician’s talent blossom in the early days of his career, playing week after week at jazz jams.
“He had such a unique and cool persona,” Mordecai says affectionately. “He’s kind of like the Austin version of Miles Davis – without the serious drug problems. Not only is he a great musician, a great persona, but also just a lovable guy.”
Heart Behind the Horn takes place Sunday, Sept. 14, at Continental Club.
This article appears in September 12 • 2025.
