Australian jazz
Although jazz in Australia suffered a significant drop in popularity during the Sixties, as it did in most other countries, there was a marked resurgence of interest in the Seventies, Eighties and Nineties as a new generation of musicians came to the fore.
Many of the leading "Australian" jazz playing musicians of the last 80 years have come from New Zealand, beginning with figures like reeds player Abe Romaine in the 1920s and later including renowned pianist-composers Judy Bailey, Mike Nock and Dave MacRae, and vocalist Ricky May.
White American and British 'black face' bards (musician/actors in make-up) brought imitations of slave plantation music (and dance) to Australia by the 1840s, featuring characteristics that later became associated with jazz, such as polyrhythmic 'breaks'.
[2][3] Thanks to close Australian links with American theatrical entertainment circuits, and Tin Pan Alley marketing of American music to Australia via phonograph records, modern dance arrangements, piano rolls and visiting jazz acts, Australians developed a strong interest in jazz influenced dance music and its related forms.
However, from the early 1930s, Australian dance musicians began to hear and absorb the work of black artists and leaders like Duke Ellington and Armstrong as well as English jazz influences.
On returning to Australia Graeme Bell's Jazz Band worked successfully on the local club circuit, as well as recording and touring extensively.
In the early 1950s pianist Bryce Rohde along with Errol Buddle (reeds) and Jack Brokensha (vibes and drums) moved from Australia to Windsor in Canada.
American bassist Ed Gaston joined the AJQ while they were touring the US in 1958 and he later married and settled down in Australia, becoming an important contributor to the local jazz scene in the ensuing years.
They worked on the same bill as names like Miles Davis, Count Basie, Gerry Mulligan, Dave Brubeck and the Modern Jazz Quartet; backed singers Billie Holiday and Carmen McRae; and played at top venues such as Carnegie Hall and Birdland.
In the intervening years he has performed with many of his favourite jazz musicians in Australia including Julian Lee, Kevin Hunt, Mike Nock, Bob Bertles, John Sangster, Sandy Evans and many more.
His bass sound has been heard by anyone who ever listened to Jim McLeods JazzTrack on ABC Radio as the memorable signature music for many years was Windows of Arquez which he recorded with Bryce Rhode.
The Three Out trio with Mike Nock (Piano), Freddy Logan (Bass), and Chris Karan (Drums) attracted some of the largest crowds at Sydney's El Rocco, a small cellar club situated in Kings Cross.
Before he left for Melbourne Frank Smith had made a big impression in Sydney, he worked with most of the top professional bands and could often be found playing at the El Rocco in its earlier years.
Many leading jazz performers like Graeme Lyall, Stewie Speer and John Sangster and Tony Buchanan worked with rock groups and absorbed important stylistic influences from the Motown, soul music and funk genres.
Ultimately American saxophonist and music educator Howie Smith was brought to Sydney on a grant from the Fulbright Program to set up the course.
Many jazz musicians came to Sydney from other areas of Australia during this decade, either to perform at special concerts or in some cases to live permanently and pursue a career in music.
A lot of top American jazz musicians performed in Sydney during the seventies, and major players such as Dave Liebman, John Scofield and Miroslav Vitous gave master classes and workshops while they were there.
The jazz scene in Sydney slowed down a little towards the start of the 1980s when The Basement pursued a more commercial music policy after extending their premises by adding a large upstairs area.
However traditional and mainstream bands continued to do well in the pub scene and contemporary jazz could still be found in venues such as The Paradise at Kings Cross, Jenny's in the inner city and Morgan's Feedwell at Glebe.
Burrows' protege, trumpeter James Morrison, who was heavily influenced by Louis Armstrong, has carved out a very successful career playing a style not unlike that of Wynton Marsalis, that blended some modern elements (e.g. the crowd-pleasing high-register technical bravura of Dizzy Gillespie) with the accessible structures and melodies of 'trad' and 'cool' jazz.
Through the '60s and '70s however, Brown's group sound and compositional ideas moved away from the 'classic' American modern jazz idiom, and he developed his own distinctive style that concentrated on interactive improvisation.
Brown founded the jazz course at the Victorian College of the Arts in 1980 and headed it for the next 18 years, and through his weekly Workshop classes he influenced hundreds of young musicians with his ideas on group performance.
[16] Multi-instrumental wind player Dale Barlow emerged in the late 1970s as one of the most promising new talents on the Australian scene, and after stints in the Young Northside Big Band and a formative period in the David Martin Quintet (with James Morrison), he moved to New York, where he was a member of two famed groups, the Cedar Walton Quartet and Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.
In the late 90s moving to the UK, touring Europe and performing with stars like, Keely Smith, Rufus Reid, Curtis Stigers and Kevin Spacey, also joining the much lauded and famous Ronnie Scott's Jazz Orchestra where he has been resident guitarist for 8 years.
New Zealand-born pianist-composer Dave McRae established himself as a performer of note in Australia in the 1960s before moving overseas, where he branched out into a diverse range of activities including a stint as the keyboard player in the British 1970s progressive rock group Matching Mole and collaborating with Bill Oddie of The Goodies on music for their TV series.
The trio of Tony Buck (drums), and the aforementioned Lloyd Swanton (bass) and Chris Abrahams (piano), known together as The Necks since forming in 1987 (see 1987 in music), have been particularly notable for hypnotic hour-long jazz, ambient and otherwise widely influenced spontaneous compositions, gaining widespread attention both in Australia and internationally.
Most notable amongst these were Kate Ceberano and Vince Jones who released traditional jazz or jazz-influenced albums within a very short period of time which included high record sales and performances to large audiences.
It broadcasts original presented shows by Mal Stanley, Megan Burslem, James Valentine and Monica Trapaga, as well as weekly featured albums, live sets, and interviews.
With financial support from the NSW Government Marla Dixon (trumpet and vocals) and Shaye Cohn (piano and cornet), band leaders from New Orleans, performed throughout the 74th AJC with Australian musicians.
The winners recorded an album, and included Ken Brentnall (trumpet), Johnny Bamford (trombone), Frank Smith (alto sax), Malcolm "Mal" Cunningham (flute), Don Burrows (clarinet), Dave Owens (tenor sax), Terry Wilkinson (piano), Johnny Weine (guitar), Pat Caplice (vibraphone), Ron Webber (drums), and Freddy Logan (bass).
