Graeme Emerson Bell, AO, MBE (7 September 1914 – 13 June 2012) was an Australian Dixieland and classical jazz pianist, composer and band leader.

[1][2][3][4] According to The Age, his "band's music was hailed for its distinctive Australian edge, which he describes as 'nice larrikinism' and 'a happy Aussie outdoor feel'".

[8] From the age of 12, Bell had weekly piano lessons in classical music by Jesse Stewart Young, a contemporary of his mother.

[2] He left school at age 16 during the Great Depression and worked for T & G Insurance as a clerk for over nine years,[2] and had a stint as a farm hand.

[1] During World War II, Bell was declared unfit for active service, so he entertained Australian troops, including travelling to Mackay, Queensland in early 1943.

[2][7][9] After his return to Melbourne, Bell became a full-time professional with the Dixieland Jazz Band, which included Roger Bell, Geoff Kitchen, Adrian "Lazy Ade" Monsbourgh on trumpet, Don "Pixie" Roberts on clarinet, Lou "Baron" Silbereisen and Russ Murphy.

[4][5] Australian Jazz Band members were initially, Bell on piano, Roger Bell on cornet and vocal, Monsbourgh on valve trombone, clarinet and vocal, Roberts on clarinet, Silbereisen on bass and tuba, with Charlie Blott, Ian Pearce and Jack Varney on banjo and guitar.

[14] According to The Age, his "band's music was hailed for its distinctive Australian edge", which he describes as "nice larrikinism" and "a happy Aussie outdoor feel".

[15] During the early 1950s Bell periodically returned to UK and Europe from Melbourne to perform, a later line-up of Australian Jazz Band was Roger Bell (trumpet), Kitchen, Ade Monsbourgh (trumpet & alto), Pixie Roberts (clarinet), Baron Silvereisen (Bass & Tuba) with Norman "Bud" Baker (Guitar & Banjo), Deryck "Kanga" Bentley (Trombone) and Johnny Sangster (drums and cornet).

[2]After returning to Australia for another national tour Bell met Dorothy Gough in Brisbane in 1955 and she convinced him to relocate to Sydney in 1957.

[18] Bell recalled his approach with the band: I inherited some of my parents' showbusiness ability to operate from the stage, talk to the audience [...] that was the creative period of my life, really.

[9][19] Bell was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame in 1997 with The Bee Gees and Paul Kelly.

[28] In 2006, Bell received the JC Williamson Award, the LPA's highest honour, for their life's work in live performance.