Coming up Rosstown FundraisersMay 30th, August 29th, October 31st

See you there ( Flyer attached)

VJAZZ 46MAY 2010

Proactively collect,archive and disseminate

Australian Jazz

QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF THE VICTORIAN JAZZ ARCHIVE INC. PATRON: WILLIAM H. MILLER M.A., B.C.L. (Oxon.)15 Mountain Highway, Wantirna 3152 Melway Ref. 63 C8

(All correspondence to: PO Box 6007 Wantirna Mall, Vic. 3152) Registered No: A0033964L ABN 53 531 132 426Ph (03) 9800 5535 email: info@vicjazzarchive.org.au. Web page: www.vicjazzarchive.org.au

The Victorian Jazz Archive proudly presents another in their series

“Legends of Jazz”

with a pictorial history covering the 50 years of

The Yarra Yarra Jazz BandOfficially opened by Lee Treanor (banjo player with original band)

on Saturday, 10th April 2010 at 3:00pm at the Archive premisesOpen to the public Tues-Fri 10am-3pm

Russ can you hear me ?

Treasures from the Archive

Real Musicianer San Antonio to Mentone

Rosstown January Fundraiser

VJAZZ 46 Page 2

FROM THE LIBRARY

By Ken Simpson-Bull

“Bix – Man and Legend”

Richard Sudhalter and Phillip Evansare the authors of a definitive bookabout Bix Beiderbecke.

CHRISTENED “Bix” (not Bismarck assome sources state), Bix Beiderbeckestarted displaying his musical talents atthe age of six. Although he had nolessons, he could play tunes on thepiano that he had heard only once. Bythe age of fifteen he had taught himselfcornet (albeit using unconventionalvalve fingering) largely by listening tothe records of the Original DixielandJazz Band. At seventeen he was playingon professional gigs, and four yearslater, in 1925, was making recordingswith The Wolverines for the OKeh label.

Bix picked up some of his skills byassociating with the bands that playedon the riverboats that came up theMississippi as far as his home town ofDavenport. As his fame and skillincreased he was hired by the famousJean Goldkette orchestra with which hetoured the United States in the late1920s playing cornet. With this band hewas in good jazz company with the likesof Frank Trumbauer, Eddie Lang,Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Joe Venuti,and Danny Polo.

In 1928 he joined the celebratedorchestra of Paul Whiteman (“The Kingof Jazz”). Whiteman’s heavily orch-estrated style did not suit Bix who haddifficulty reading music and muchpreferred his own improvised technique.This led to depression which, combinedwith his sometimes heavy drinking,ultimately led to his premature deathfrom pneumonia at age 28 in 1931.

As well as being master of thecornet, Bix was also a skilful composer.His piano recording of “In a Mist” hasbecome a jazz classic. Bix’s life wasfancifully fictionalised in a novel (later afilm) called Young Man With a Horn,however for an accurate and extremelywell-researched biography, one cannotgo past Bix – Man and Legend byRichard Sudhalter and Phillip Evans.

“Bix – Man and Legend” (along withmany other Jazz related books) isavailable for loan to members from theJilly Ward library at the VJA premises inWantirna.

The VJA library entersthe

twenty - first century

By Kim Harris

SOME years ago I became the secondVJA Librarian, succeeding Tom Wanliss.Tom had done a sterling job in settingup the VJA Library, and a card systemrecording its holdings that amountedthen to about 600 volumes. With theexception of a few rare Australianworks, these books were all stored inthe R.G. Marginson Library, sharingspace with the various exhibitionsmounted in that space. The record cardswere limited to four categories:biographies and autobiographies,discographies, encyclopaedias and“general jazz books”. Within eachcategory each book was carded byauthor and title. After checking holdingsand documenting existing systems, twomain tasks emerged; to tackle spaceproblems associated with the growingcollection, and to investigate how best tocomputerise the library’s records.

Space remains a problem for theArchive in general, and ultimately theLibrary’s problems in this dimensionmust look to be resolved as part of abroader context. In the shorter term, adecision was taken to ease pressures inthe Marginson Library by removingduplicate copies from that location, andsetting up a separate collection of thesein the Jilly Ward Room at the west endof the building. These copies weremade available for member borrowingon an honour system. Where there weremultiple duplicate copies, it wasresolved to try to dispose of these wherepossible, either by donation to librarieswith jazz interests(e.g., the VictorianCollege of theArts) or by re-selling them tomembers andother interestedparties. Membersare urged to takeadvantage ofthese services.Visit the Archive;b r o w s e t h eMarginson Librarycollection, orborrow from thelending library inthe Jilly WardRoom. Books forsale are alsodisplayed in thelatter location and

may be purchased through the ArchiveShop.

As far as computerisation wasconcerned, as a retired book publisher Ihad a fair idea of the efficiencies andbenefits an electronic library cataloguewould bring both in processing donatedbooks and accessing the existingcollection. But I wasn’t qualified todecide the most appropriate form thatcomputerisation should take, andtherefore to argue for the allocation ofcash to its implementation. We neededmore specialised talent, and two newvolunteers provided the solution. AllysonAnthonisz is a qualified librarian withdetailed knowledge of library systemsand procedures. Ralph Powell brought

experience as a school librarian, whichenabled him to access and demonstratea system suited to the scale of theArchive’s needs. This culminated in amanagement decision to acquire asystem called Bibliotech. Bibliotechenables us to download informationabout our new acquisitions directly frominternational bibliographic sites instandard library formats. Our users canaccess this information in basically thesame way as they search thecatalogues of their local libraries. Andour library is at least theoretically in aposition to interact with the Australianand international library and researchcommunities as part of the Archive’sobjective to preserve and promoteAustralia’s contribution to the history ofjazz.

Thanks to Allyson and Ralph for theirkey contributions to bringing our libraryinto the 21st Century. We look forward tomembers and visitors taking the time tosee what it has to offer.

Ralph Powell, Allyson Anthonisz and Kim Harris

Cover Photo left to right:Denis Ball, Judy Jacques, LeeTreanor, Maurice Garbutt, Don Hall,Les Fithall, Bob Brown.

“experience of a school librarian”

CHRIS LUDOWYK and his Syncopatorswere the big attraction at the Rosstownhotel in Carnegie on Sunday, 31 Jan-uary. The function was to have featuredChris’s “Society Five”, but the two morethat make up the complete band werehappily recruited at the last moment.

With over 150 attending, the day gotoff to a good start with a foot-tappingarrangement of “Avalon”. During theafternoon the band played quite a fewnumbers from their latest CD.

Some of the afternoon's outstandingpieces included “Paper Doll”, “King Port-er Stomp” and a great rendition of thatold-time number “I Wonder Who’s Kis-sing Her Now” (with some new andamusing lyrics by Peter Gaudion).

Another of Peter’s vocals had us infits of laughter with his parody on “Man-yana”. Other well-received itemsincluded “You Do Something to Me” and“In a Persian Market”. It was a day ofsuperb traditional jazz, the functionraising over $2,000 for the Archive. Thehard working VJA volunteers are to bethanked for their commitment to thesuccess of this function.

Chris LudowykBECAUSE the multi-talented ChrisLudowyk—trombonist, bassist, pianist,vocalist, arranger and band leader—hasbecome somewhat of a legend in theannals of Australian Jazz, this might bea good place to recount his career.

Chris was born in Sri Lanka and wasplaying jazz with friends as a teenagerbefore he emigrated to Australia in 1962at the age of 18.

The family settled in Geelong for atime where, in 1964, Chris joined theCrescent City Jazz Band followed bystints with the Green Horse and theBaton Rouge jazz bands. During thisperiod he appeared at the Geelong JazzFestival and the Australian JazzConvention.

Originally destined for a career inelectrical engineering, Chris moved toMelbourne in 1968 where he joined theNew Harlem Jazz Band taking over asleader in 1979. (The New Harlem bandprovided support for American giantTurk Murphy when he visited thiscountry.) A year later Chris formed thePrahran Market Jazz Band and in 1982departed for England where he playedwith such luminaries as Tony Ashwelland Cuff Billett.

In 1984 Chris created the now fa-mous Society Syncopators. Initiallyplaying at the Abbey Jazz Cellar, theynext moved to the Emerald hotel inSouth Melbourne.

The Syncopators’ popularity islargely due to their polished, engaging,

and rhythmic combination of traditionaljazz and swing and they have becomeone of the leading jazz groups inAustralia. In fact, because of theirextensive overseas touring, they arearguably recognised as world leaders intheir field.

In 1995 the group toured Europe aspart of the Government “ExperienceAustralia” program, the only traditionaljazz ensemble from Victoria to be sel-ected to do so. The highlight of that tripwas to appear at the prestigious North-sea Jazz Festival at Den Haag in theNetherlands.

Some of the band’s other appear-ances include a concert tour of NewCaledonia, recorded and live ABC tele-vision shows, the opening of Melb-ourne’s Crown Casino, a spot in the film“Death of a Soldier”, and regular Vic-torian Arts Centre concerts—the listgoes on. For instance, in 1996 they tooka standing ovation in front of a crowd of2,500 at the Breda Jazz Festival in theNetherlands.

Chris’s career has enabled him toplay with overseas legends such as DickCarey, Bud Freeman, Tom Pletcher, ArtHodes, Dan Barrett and Dill Jones.Australia has its legends also and Chrishas played alongside Graeme Bell, AdeMonsbourgh, Bob Barnard, Tom Baker,and James Morrison.

The other members of the Sync-opators also have fine pedigrees.

Peter Gaudion, who plays trumpet andprovides vocals, played with FrankTraynor’s Jazz Preachers and led hisown group, Blues Express, before join-ing the Syncopators. He toured several

times with Kenny Ball and Acker Bilk.

Richard Miller (clarinet, saxophone andvocals) played with the popular RedOnions and has been on two successfulEuropean tours. Richard writes most ofthe group’s original compositions.

Jeff Arthur (guitar and banjo) joined theband in 1991. He had previously playedalongside Ronnie Burns, Dennis Walter,Donna Lee, and Normie Rowe, to namea few.

James Clark (double bass and tuba)originally trained in classical piano inAdelaide from where he moved to Mel-bourne to join the Syncopators. He hasperformed with such celebrities as WildBill Davison, Bob Barnard, and ArtHodes. He is also the band’s recordingengineer having at one time been atechnical operator with the ABC.

Steve Grant (piano) is well renownedas one of Melbourne’s outstanding andexperienced pianists. He also plays amean trumpet! He has performed inBerlin as a member of the SteveMagnusson Trio. Steven is the newestmember of the Syncopators.

Andrew Swann is the band’s regulardrummer but was unable to be presentat the fund-raiser. He has performed ex-tensively overseas including the USA,Europe, Asia and New Zealand. He hasshared the stage with artists like JamesMorrison, Danny Moss, Chris Wilson,and the Pearly Shells.

Ron Haydon was the stand-in drummerfor the fund-raiser and gave an out-standing performance. No wonder—-Ron has had many years of experienceplaying with the likes of the Maple LeafAll Stars and Frank Traynor’s Jazzpreachers.

VJA Fund Raiser at the RosstownBy Ken Simpson-Bull

Richard Miller, Peter Gaudion and Chris Ludowyk take the front line.

VJAZZ 46 Page 3

VJAZZ 46 Page 4

Russ, can you hear me?

By Richard Hughes

The week beginning with the ninth dayof Christmas (aye, January 3) wasmarked by incidents and memories joy-ous and sad, the worst of which was thedeath of Russ Murphy on Tuesday,January 5, one day after what wouldhave been Roger Bell’s 91st birthdayand one day before what was JohnnyMcCarthy’s (his 80th, just quietly—justlike that, not loud).

Russ Murphy was one of thegreatest gentlemen of jazz andalso one of Australia’s bestdrummers. I was hugely impressedwhen I first heard him in the flesh inFebruary 1947 on a Yarra Yarra river-boat trip (depart Princes Bridge 2.30p.m. sharp—or flat [they had to make aU-turn to return for trombonist EricWashington, but that leads us into murk-ier waters]). I remember hearing TonyNewstead enthusing about Russ to abecoming young lady I later learnt wasthe sister of Mark Albiston (Jenny, Iseem to remember—and do you re-member, you remaining oldsters, BillMiller at the second convention enthus-ing about Mark’s clarinet playing?)

Talking of Bill Miller reminds me thatthat venerable poet (literally) andscholar (wow! what degrees and quellefinesse!) told the late Ken Ingram andme in July 1950 after an especially en-joyable meeting of the Melbourne Uni-versity Rhythm Club that the only world-class Australian jazz musicians at thattime (Frank Coughlan had been before– I don’t want to be pluperfect forwords—and Bob Barnard was just start-ing out, and Don Burrows didn’t thencome into the equation as set by theperimeters of Melbourne revivalist/survivalist jazz appreciation of the time)were Russ Murphy, Tom Pickering andGeorge Tack. But before Dame Mem-ory further disarms me, let me dwell onRuss Murphy and—first up—my nextsighting and hearing of him at theGraeme Bell concerts in MelbourneTown Hall in August 1948. You’ll see aphoto of them on the cover of the newBill Armstrong Collection Graeme BellAnd His Dixieland Jazz Band 1947 &1948. Russ’s drumming was a perfect

example of art concealing art. Hisbeat was felt as much as itwas heard. He’d had a swap ses-sion with Baby Dodds in Paris, and mysurmise is that few white drummers out-side George Wettling, who Russ waslater to tell me was his favourite drum-mer, would have then been stomping itaround to that New Orleans sound withsuch style and seeming simplicity.

I’ll never forget his style at an AdeMonsbourgh session at the third con-vention. It was the perfect accompani-ment for the sensitivity and taste of Ade(trumpet) and Kelly Smith’s sublimeclarinet. Equally memorable was theBruce Gray/Kelly Smith front-line ses-sion of the fourth convention, the high-light of which was the Dave Dallwitzcomposition, Clarinet Sugar. Not evenWettling could have played more appro-priate drums in that setting, with theunder-played, but again seemingly feltwoodblock and cowbell.

Woodblock and cowbell was all thatRuss brought along for the MelbourneUniversity Rhythm Club recording ses-sion of June 1949 that produced LookDown the Road and Old-FashionedLove, which Rex Green (perfect pianistfor that line-up of Ade Monsbourgh’sLate Hour Boys) didn’t know, and whichAde whistled to him so effectively thatRex played it as though it had long beenin his repertoire. Uncanny telepathyresulted in Russ synchronising preciselywith an unusual rhythm pattern Adeplayed in his solo on Look Down TheRoad.

The road ended for Russ Murphy at2.30 a.m. on Thursday January 5, 2010,eight days short of what would havebeen his 90th birthday. I hope BabyDodds and George Wettling were thereto greet him in that promised land.

It was Baby Dodds who made a clas-sic understatement to Russ in Paris.There was some jazz festival and theBell band were there and Baby Doddsheard them and thought they werepretty good (enormous praise comingfrom the man who was drummer withKing Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band) and fella-talking with Russ, who told him aboutthe Graeme Bell band and that bothPixie Roberts and Ade Monsbourghplayed clarinet. Whereupon BabyDodds said: “My brother Johnny, heplayed clarinet too.”

At least that’s what Russ Murphythought he heard Baby Dodds say.Russ, as some of you know, was hard ofhearing, which resulted in a misunder-standing in Paris, when, separated onenight from others of the band (on theother side of the road), he was accostedby two young women. They spoke, un-derstandably, in French, a tongue for-eign to Russ, who tried to keep up withtheir patter by ejaculating the occasional“oui” and (to the women) odd “non”.The other members of the band, alert tothe situation, asked Russ what thesebelles de la nuit had said to him.

It was Mel Langdon who told me thisstory, and said to me that Russ hadsaid: “I thought they were trying to tellme where I could chew some Chinesetucker.”To the fore please, Tom Pickering andGeorge Tack, if you take my point...

Vale, Russ Murphy!

We thank our Life Member, well-knownpiano-player and journalist for this con-tribution and look forward to many morearticles. In the meantime, if you haven’tread Richard Hughes’ “Daddy’s Practis-ing Again”, or “ Don’t You Sing” we rec-ommend you do so. For members ofthe VJA they are available from ourlending library.

LETTERS TO THEARCHIVE

Bill Miller remembers -Russ Murphy

He was a delightful person, but in manyways quite a simple soul. There are oneor two stories about him when he was inParis with the Bell Band which we cannever forget.

Russ told us:“Ade and I had heard a lot about

the Folies Bergere, so we thought we’dgo and have a look at it.

How was it, Russ?It was a great show, but better

than we expected, because they havethis audience participation stuff, andthey asked some of us, including meand Ade, up on the stage.

Gee, that was terrific!Yeah, Ade and me, there we

were up there with all those nakedsheilas!

How about that!Yeah, not only that, but after the

show we were going home on theMetro—that’s the Paris undergroundtrain—when two of these girls got on thetrain, and they recognised us and cameover and talked to us.

How marvellous!Not only that, but they asked us if

we’d like to go up to their flat.Gee, Russ, did you go?Oh, no, we couldn’t be bothered!”

Russ Murphy

The next one I hope will not offend anyone, but most people are pretty broad-minded now, particularly jazzers.

Russ’s words -

“I’d heard about these places in Paris,so I thought I’d like to try one. They toldme about one which they thought waspretty good, so I got a cab there andknocked on the door. They let me in,and there were these lovely girls there.They gave me a drink, and talked a bit,and said, ”Which one of us would youlike?” There was a very nice one, so Ipicked her. She took me upstairs andgave me a marvellous time.

When we came down again they satme down and gave me another drink,and then they asked me would I likeanother one—you know, not a drink, butyou know what!

I said, “No thanks very much, but itwas great” and got up and left.

And I hadn’t got half way down thestreet when I thought I might have likedanother one!”

You can talk about understatements,but when Russ told us the next one, wejust fell on the floor.

Baby Dodds was working in Pariswhile the Bells were there and he gavelessons. Apparently he was a fairly un-pretentious bloke, a rather simple soul,not unlike Russ. Russ booked a lessonwith him.

They were having a break, and BabyDodds asked Russ about the band hewas playing with. Russ said, “GraemeBell, the leader, is the pianist andRoger, his brother’s on trumpet. PixieRoberts is on clarinet and sax....”

“Oh”, says Baby Dodds, interested;“Me brother Johnny plays clarinet.”

Andrew MottDirector of MusicBlackburn High School

Dear Mel,

I am writing to express our great thanksto the Victorian Jazz Archive’s Decem-ber donation of jazz reference books toBlackburn High School. They will provean excellent resource for our librarywhich is already extensive in musicalarrangements, but lacks any text refer-ences.

As you’re probably aware we main-tain a very active program with 24groups rehearsing over 45 hours a week(all out of school hours) and a perform-ance schedule which took in just over100 engagements for 2009.

Maintaining the program is a hugechallenge financially and we alwaysappreciate gestures such as this andwhich will provide the students with agreat resource for further research into

the eras of music of which they performso much.

Thanks too for the poly-plastic stands.They have been used already by theSenior Stage Band on December 10 atthe Alfred Hospital Foundation Ball heldat the Sofitel Hotel ... and we love them!

We hope we can foster an associa-tion with the Archive in coming years(and I will arrange for one of our jazzbands to pay a visit/performance in2010). As someone very interested inyour activities and in jazz history withinAustralia I really believe what you aredoing is an incredibly valuable service tojazz in this country.

With very best wishes from keen mu-sicians and staff.

It should be mentioned that the musicstands mentioned in this letter had beenmade by the late Sam Meerkin and do-nated by Evelyn Perks.

The EdinburghConnection

December 11

Hi There JimRead about your plans for an EdinburghArchive in the Sandy Brown page IanMunds runs. I’m a volunteer for the pastfive years at the Victorian Jazz Archivehere in Melbourne. There is one in Ade-laide but none in Sydney which soundsstrange as there was a great Jazz scenethere in the post war period [not as goodas down here - a bit of a bias here Iguess, like Edinburgh and Glasgow].

I was born in Gourock down river fromGlasgow in 1935. I was raised on theUK scene of the Fifties. After service inthe Merchant Navy I emigrated to Oz in1966.So I carried on enjoying the scene-here.

I think it is great that Edinburgh shouldhave an Archive as after all it had agreat scene in the late forties/early fiftiesproducing world class musicians suchas Sandy, Al, Alex, Archie, Stan Griegand Dave Keir. Other east coasterswere of course Ian Armit, Tommy Whit-tle and Joe Temperley.

Our Archive naturally focuses on ourlocal scene past and present but hasvast collections in our vaults of overseasmaterial. We put on various exhibitions.At the moment there is one dealing withthe history of the annual Jazz Conven-tion held between Boxing day and NewYears Eve. The first was held in Mel-bourne in 1946 mainly at the instigationof Ade Monsbourgh. Anyway I fully sup-port your enterprise. More power to yourarm. I’d like to hear of your progress...

December 17

Hello BillAnd many thanks indeed for your kindwords of support and enthusiasm re-garding our proposed Edinburgh Ar-chive : much appreciated.

We’re working towards an opening/exhibition to coincide with the annualEdinburgh International Jazz Festivalwhich takes place in July, so wish usluck with the planning and arrangementsinvolved.

It is most interesting to read about yourVictorian Jazz Archive whose web siteshould give us some pointers for theone we intend setting up; so, thanksalso for that! I was lucky enough to seeyour Bob Barnard here a year or soback playing with one of our localgroups.

I note while Melbourne (well Victoria)and Adelaide have Jazz Archives thereis no mention of your other cities eg.Sydney, Brisbane; or, is there any likeli-hood of archives for your various Statesi.e. NSW, Queensland, Western Austra-lia, Northern Territory?

I don’t know what will transpire regard-ing the overall Scottish jazz scene as,so far, only Edinburgh has made a movetowards an Archive; nothing so far inregard Glascow, Aberdeen, Dundee andother centres.

Thanks again for your encouragingwords!

Email correspondence between BillBrown Victorian Jazz Archive and JimKeppie, Edinburgh Archive.

Isn’t it Romantic

By Lee Treanor

Isn’t it strange, the things that can trig-ger—or stand in the way of—the writingof tunes, and particularly the lyrics? Ata recent gig, I suggested weplay All By Myself, which is a lovely oldtune I first heard on one of my father’sold 78’s and played by Buddy Berrigan.Frank Stewart turned to me and said,“Irving Berlin wrote it, you know.” Puttingon a ‘New Yoik Jewish’ accent, I joked,“Anudder triump for Mrs Berlin’s liddleboy, Oiving.” Giving me an owlish look,Frank said, “His wife died, and in thenext year he only wrote three tunes: “Allby Myself, I’ll Get By and I’m Alone be-cause I Love You.” Now doesn’t that getto you!

VJAZZ 46 Page 5

Real Musicianer

By Bill Brown

2009 had significance to jazz people witha sense of history that is. It marked fiftyyears since a number of the jazz lumi-naries departed the scene. In 1959 thegreat tenor sax giant Lester Young died,also the troubled ‘Lady Day’, Billie Holi-day, perhaps the greatest jazzsongstress, passed away in the pres-ence of police by her bedside. Both ofthose artists departed this earth hauntedby their demons, being black jazz peopleliving in what was a white world. Thesubject of this missive, Sidney Bechet,had a slightly different journey. One ofNew Orleans sons, he emerged as awonderful reed player excelling on clari-net and the soprano sax.

I first heard of him appearing with LouisArmstrong on the Clarence WilliamsBlue Five Sides recorded around1923/1925. All of those tracks are on a 3CD collection on a label aptly titled ‘Hot& Sweet’. In 1940 they collaborated inthe studio again. I personally think thefour tracks produced at this session aregreat, especially 2.19 Blues and PerdidoStreet Blues. But seemingly the twomain players Louis and Bechet weren’tall that happy with each other. As theywere both much better known by thistime perhaps the dreaded egos had be-gun to emerge. This antipathy could alsohave accounted for a much vaunted re-union of the two supposedly set for afifties Newport Jazz Festival not happen-ing; Bechet not leaving Paris where hewas by then resident.

Bechet’s early days are chronicled in his

own fascinating book ‘Treat It Gentle’.More information of his early years inJazz [he traveled widely] is mentioned inJohn Chilton’s excellent ‘Sidney BechetThe Wizard of Jazz’. He often referredto himself and other musicians as‘musicianers’.

I am more concerned with his recordingsor at least the ones I know. He was veryprolific in that regard. After the early Cla-rence Williams sessions and the oneswhere he accompanied blues singers hehad spells with commercial outfits. WithNoble Sissle he made some fine tracksbut a lot of the material was in the popu-lar music area. Likewise a spell withKenneth Roane playing sort of HaitianWest Indian music was a bit mundaneeven if the pianist was Willie The LionSmith. Sidney’s powerful soprano saxplaying tended to end up dominating anyband he played with, especially challeng-ing trumpet players. He probably met his

match in the late fortieswhen Wild Bill Davison’spugnacious style brookedno rivals. Back in 1932he recorded with a bandand set up a head ofsteam that trumpet manTommy Ladnier was flatout keeping up with.‘Sweetie Dear’ and‘Maple Leaf Rag’ arestand-out tracks in anycollection.

None of this was evidentin the six or so sides hemade with a quartet for-mat with Muggsy Spanierin 1940. A marvelousfeeling of give and take isin evidence in this set ofchamber jazz.

Throughout the forties hemade some great sidesusually under the aegis

of his New Orleans Feetwarmers.Trumpet partners included Red Allen,Rex Stewart and Charlie Shavers, allthen at the top of their game.

In 1945/47 he partnered the eccentricwhite clarinetist Mezz Mezzrow on ses-sions for the King Jazz label; not a greatplayer but on those recordings his feel-ing for the blues blended well with Be-chet. Sometimes with trumpet man HotLips Page in attendance and SammyPrice on piano they cook up some greatlong blues themes that are very moving.

Bechet settled in France in 1951. Hebecame a local hero so to speak. Play-ing and recording with French bandswhich he tended to dominate - ClaudeLuter, Andre Reweliotty. He composedlots of tunes, some with a very exoticflair. Ironically one of those, ‘PetiteFleur’, was recorded by English clarinet-

ist Monty Sunshine in 1956 and rocketedinto the hit parade a few years later.

Similarly another, ‘The Pay Off’ did wellfor another UK player Kenny Ball. Nearerto home Ray Price in Sydney and theSyncopators in Melbourne also recordedit. Some of his colourful compositions‘Fish Seller’ and ‘Les Onions’ also be-came jazz standards.

In 1957 he recorded some sides withpianist Martial Solal - mostly standardballads and away from the other bands’more traditional repertoire. On drumswas Kenny Clarke one of the foundermembers of the Modern Jazz Quartet.The last set I have of him is a Jam Ses-sion done in 1958 at the Brussells Fairwith people like Buck Clayton and VicDickenson.

Bechet was no stranger to controversy.Whilst touring UK in the twenties he was

deported. In Paris a few years laterhe was jailed for discharging afirearm at a fellow band mem-

ber. In 1949 whilst in London he defied

a musicians’ ban on Americans playingwith locals by appearing in concert withHumphrey Lyttelton’s Band. The nextday he made six sides with them in thestudio. After rehearsing six tunes, whenthe light went on in the studio, hescrapped them and picked six others.He maintained a vigorous lifestyle andhad an eye for the ladies especially ofthe younger variety.

After he succumbed to cancer a statueof him was erected in Antibes.Always unpredictable, he never sufferedfools gladly. One English critic found thisout the hard way. The scribe asked whywas it that in his later years he playedsoprano sax continually, hardly everreverting to his other instrument, theclarinet. Bechet thought for a momentthen said. ‘I have a question. What thehell’s it got to do with you’?A crusty old musicianer our Sid.

NEWS OF THE NSW JAZZARCHIVE INC.

It is with regret that we announce thepassing of Kevin Casey from the NSWJazz Archives. Our sympathy goes outto his wife, Heather and other membersof his family. All communications to theArchive, including queries about mem-bership, objectives, programs and news-letter should now be addressed to PeterJ. F. Newton, 30 Boorea Street, Blax-land, NSW 2774.Telephone (02) 4739 1715Email: lambertnewton@bigpond.com.

VJAZZ 46 Page 6

VJAZZ 46 Page 7

Vale - Ken Evans(1926 to 2010)

The following is a copy of theObituary published in the NoosaNews

When Ken Evans moved to Noosa in1988, Noosa was enriched by a man ofextraordinary musical talent andprofessional background.

Ken was a multi-skilled musicianplaying all the instruments in the brassfamily. He made an enormouscontribution to Australian jazz andclassical music. He was also anengineer by profession and, at theheight of his career, was NationalManager of Engineering for InternationalHarvester with a staff of 250.

Ken was born in Geelong, Victoria. In

1951 Ken married Betty who he referredto as “the world’s best wife”. They hadtwo children, Marcus and Melissa andKen greatly enjoyed the company of histwo grand-children Josh and Ben.

Ken began music studies onclarinet and tenor saxophonebut moved to trombone after hearing aMelbourne trombonist who visitedGeelong one weekend. He was soimpressed that the following Monday hebought a trombone and his love affairwith brass began.

While in Melbourne he was acontemporary of Australian jazzlegends, Graeme and Roger Bell, JohnSangster and Frank Johnson andmerited this entry in The Oxford

Companion to Australian Jazz:Ken often played an innovative and

ground breaking role during his musicallife in bridging the worlds of classicalmusic and jazz.

Versatility in moving between differentmusical styles was matched by hisversatility on brass and windinstruments, playing at professionallevel on trombone, trumpet, French hornand tuba.

Ken first appeared on the Melbournejazz scene when he led the GeelongJazz Group at the first Australian JazzConvention in 1946.

His early musical activities includedperforming and recording with FrankJohnson’s Fabulous Dixielanders andGraeme Bell’s Jazz Band, leading theSteamboat Stompers to victory in the1951 Battle of the Bands, playingFrench horn in the Geelong SymphonyOrchestra, composing, particularly thirdstream instrumental music and playing

in some of the famousMelbourne dance bandsof the 50’s.

After a long profess-ional engineering careerin Australia and over-seas, Ken left thecorporate world in 1975to pursue a full timecareer as a musician/educator/ composer.

There is also an entryin the Oxford Companionto Australian Musiccovering his more recentmusical life in Noosa.

Melbourne’s loss wasNoosa’s gain when Kenmoved to Noosa. Hewas an ardent supporterof the Noosa musicscene.

In 1992 he formed the16 member Jazz-NoosaChorale specifically topremier his Jazz Mass -For Musicians Remem-bered, composed for the

inaugural Noosa Jazz Festival.Compositions which were later

premiered in Noosa include New Dayand Hastings Street from the NoosaSuite, Missa Concertante and Ameri-Czech Musings and Family Album, athird stream brass quintet,commissioned by the Australia Council.

For many years Ken was theadjudicator at the Music Fest schoolband and choral competition and hiscontribution to Brisbane jazz through avery successful workshop program inthe mid-90’s was greatly appreciated bythe Brisbane Jazz Club.

Ken was deputy musical director ofNoosa Chorale. He sang tenor,composed works for the Chorale, helpedchoir members with private rehearsals

and played in some of the orchestrasthat accompanied Chorale concerts.Above all, he was always willing toadvise and help, drawing on his deepappreciation of all kinds of music and hisexperience as a performer, arranger andcomposer.

In 2002, Ken offered an excitingchallenge to Noosa Chorale with hisconcert, Elizabeth I to Elizabeth II, whichoffered a programme of Elizabethanmadrigals, Purcell odes, Duke Ellingtonclassics and a madrigal setting of

Lennon & McCartney’s “Yesterday”. Allthese pieces were all arrangedfor the chorale by Ken. Theconcert also included Ken’s Ameri-Czech Musings, Family Album and amovement from his Jazz Mass.

In 2007 Ken was asked to create afour hour tribute to Frank Johnson whofounded the Noosa Jazz Party (nowcalled Festival) and was given a freechoice of musicians who were attendingthe Festival.

Some of the musicians selected wereBob Barnard trumpet, Paul Furnissreeds, Harry Price trombone, LachieThompson reeds, Dick Barnes andDerek Capewell bass, Berenice Hay-dock and John Adams piano, JohnScurry guitar, John Withers banjo, andAlan Browne and Bob Mair drums.

In 2008 David and Sally Poulton, theowners of the local business, Pro-motions in Motion, used some of Ken’soriginal recorded music from a jazzrecording for the David Jones Christmaswindow display in Sydney. Hecontinued choosing and editing musicfor these windows, as well as some inNew Zealand, right up to November lastyear.

Ken had a wonderful gift ofanecdote and a delightfulsense of humour. He was alsopassionate about social justice and aman of great principle. He combined theengineer’s gift of detailed, thorough,logical thinking with the musician’s freecreative spirit. Like all jazz musicianshe loved improvising and creating newmusical experiences with bands andgroups.

This quiet achiever will leave a biggap in the lives of many people but willlive on in their memory, in recordings ofhis playing, in his gifts of musical insightto many people and through his ground-breaking musical compositions.

The Archive members send theirdeepest sympathy to Betty, Marcus,Melissa and their families.

Ken Evans playing trombone 2006

So what is the connection between a Texas City riversidejazz venue and a life saving club in a Melbourne bayside sub-urb. Simple, hot jazz music, that glue that has been very po-tent over the years for getting differing strands of humanity toreach out and connect.

In this case it is two cornet players who have made their markover the years happily often in tandem.

I recall back in the sixties reading a review of a US LP by theHappy Jazz Band of Jim Cullum senior. Jim junior was oncornet,

Of course settling in Melbourne in ’66 I soon swotted up onthe Barnard brothers’ saga that had been blossoming on thesands at Mentone. Bob’s playing on cornet even then wasraising eyebrows among the jazz cognoscenti, and by theseventies he was leading his band overseas and then laterfeaturing as a solo item at festivals worldwide.

Jim Cullum’s Band was also carving a name for itself on thejazz stage. Inevitably both those cornet virtuosi came togetherand this situation has continued down the years both in theUS and in Australia.

Which leads me [at last] round to the session at the BentleighClub here in Melbourne on Sunday 17th January of this year.The usual packed ensemble that Diana Allen seems to attractenjoyed a great afternoon of hot two cornet Jazz. The conceptisn’t new of course. King Oliver and the young Louis Arm-strong fresh up from New Orleans set the pattern in stone forevermore in the King’s Band in Chicago in the twenties. YankLawson and Billy Butterfield continued the tradition in the BobCrosby Bobcats. In the forties over in San Francisco LuWatters and Bob Scobey spearheaded a great jazz revivalwhich has had an impact here.Even in the Port of Liverpool two guys called John Lawrence

and Pete Daniels propelled the legendary Merseysippi Bandat the Cavern Club when Lennon/McCartney were still gleamsin Brian Epstein’s eyes.

However meanwhile at Bentleigh our two worthies with thestellar rhythm team of Steven Grant, Mark Elton and Mel-bourne’s answer to Jo Jones, Ian Smith, in attendance gave aswinging amalgam of hot jazz. Naturally there was a nod toArmstrong numbers of the pre-war period ‘Come Back SweetPapa’, ‘Wild Man Blues’ etc. but there was a variance in mate-rial including a beguiling tune called ‘Almost Daylight’ also aninteresting version of ‘Hi - Lilli Hi - Lo’, a song I recalled froman early fifties film with the gamin actress Lesley Caron.

The icing on the cake came with the appearance (in the sec-ond half) of Jo Stevenson with his array of reed instruments.His presence gave the music a new texture especially thesonorous effect of his bass sax. A whirlwind version Jo did onclarinet of ‘That’s A Plenty’ with just rhythm, set the coffeecups and wine glasses jumping. Shades of heady nights atSwallows or the Emerald, hey?

An apple a day may keep the doctor away: let’s ban apples.A lot of this two trumpet/cornet delight is captured on a finealbum ‘Cornet-Copia’: worth a spin. Let’s hope the liaison

continues and thrives. Musical happenings like this aresparkling diamonds on the dull mosaic that repre-sents contemporary popular music.

So listen and enjoy.

Visitors to the Archive

Recently Ms Cassie May, Communications Manager, MsLyndal Wischer, Manager of Professional Development bothfrom Museums Australia and Dr Megan Cardamone a Man-ager with the Museums Accreditation Program enjoyed a so-cial visit to the Archive. After their tour they admitted to beingimpressed not only with the Archive’s collection but the proc-esses for archiving that are practiced. Margaret and DonAnderson were also on hand to walk them through the currentexhibition depicting the History of the Australian Jazz Conven-tion.

San Antonio To MentoneBy Bill Brown

The Victorian Jazz Archive acknowledges the past support of the following organisations: The State of Victoria through the Department ofPremier and Cabinet and Arts Victoria, Parks Victoria, The Ian Potter Foundation, The Myer Foundation, The Pratt Foundation,

The Trust Company of Australia, The Helen McPherson Smith Trust, Diana Allen of Jazz Australia, The Estates of the late Don Boardman,Ron Halstead, David Ward and Ward McKenzie Pty Ltd. and Sam Meerkin. The Archive gratefully acknowledges the financial support given to

the VJA Capital Fund by Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, A.C., D.B.E.

VJAZZ 46 Page 8

Jim Cullum and Bob BarnardMs. Cassie May, Dr. Megan Cardamone, Ms. Lyndel Wisher,Don Anderson and Margaret Anderson

Treasures in the Archive

By Bill Haesler

In 1936, young Eric Child (1910 - 1995)squired Lucille Wilson, a dancer in LewLeslie’s Blackbirds stage production atthe Gaiety Theatre, around London’sjazz nightspots. Although Lucille wasaware of several famous U.S. bandlead-ers she, at the time, had never heard ofLouis Armstrong who was, Eric insisted,THE King of Jazz.

In a letter to Eric in late 1942. Lucillewrote that she had met his King - andhad become his fourth wife on the 7thOctober 1942.

She had eventually worked with Louis atthe New Cotton Club in Harlem in 1939while in the chorus line using the stagename Brown Sugar.

The long platonic friendship with Lucille continued and Eric andhis wife Angela (1919 - 2001) welcomed her and the King inSydney on Louis’ first visit to Australia in October 1954, and onhis subsequent visits here in 1956,1963, and1964.

At a dinner party at the Child’s Brisbane home on 16th April1956, Louis presented Angela with one of his famous stagehandkerchiefs, signed by the tour group, and Lucille gave her abrooch and earrings that Angela had, quite innocently, admired.

Following Eric’s death in 1995 Angela promised Louis’ handker-chief (and Eric’s jazz items) to Bill Haesler and the brooch andearrings to his wife Jess when she died. Rather than keepingEric’s unique jazz memorabilia private, Bill donated it along withthe handkerchief to the Victorian Jazz Archive in May 2002, inAngela’s memory. The autographed handkerchief is of particularinterest, as it is apparently the only one known to includeLucille’s signature.

When Bill and Jess visited the VJA during the 64th AJC, Jessgave us the brooch and earrings that Lucille Armstrong hadgiven to Angela Child back in 1956

For several years we have treasured the handkerchief thatLouis gave to Angela. This has been carefully mounted in anarchival frame and is kept out of the light to prevent deteriora-tion. The signatures on the handkerchief are those of LouisArmstrong, Lucille Armstrong, Rose Hardaway, Billy Kyle, GaryCrosby, Velma Middleton, Barrett Deems, Edmond Hall andJack Lesberg. For some reason, Trummy Young did not auto-graph the handkerchief.

VJAZZ 46 Page 9

VJAZZ 46 Page 10

How would you archive these photographs?By Pam Clements

The answer to this question and much more was discussed on March 16th at a Conservation and Preservation Workshop forinterested VJA members organized by our Collection Manager Mel Blachford. It was presented by Detlev Lueth who holds aBachelor in Applied Science specializing in the conservation of both paper and photographic material. He has over twentyyears experience working at the National Archives of Australia as Assistant Director of Preservation and before that the Na-tional Museum of Australia, the National Film and Sound Archive and the International Conservation Service in Sydney. It wasa National Library and Community Heritage Grant that made the workshop possible. The emphasis was on storage, handlingand display relevant for the archive however, keen participants also bought along items from their own collections for advice.

Victorian Jazz Archive members watching Detlev Lueth’s power point display.

What’s happening?Collectors ABC1

The VJA is going to air on theCollectors program early in July.Gordon Brown chats with MelBlachford and we could hear JohnAdams and Barry Boyes and othersprovide a musical rendition of an oldfavourite.

Did you Know?Bob Barnard turned sixteen years ofage on the day of his first commer-cial recording date. He recorded withhis brother Len’s band Ory’s CreoleTrombone and Clarinet Marmaladeon the Jazzart label in 1949.

Stonnington JazzThe archive appreciates its supportfor the mail out of this issue.

VJAZZNo 46 May 2010Distribution 650

ContributorsBill BrownDr Pam ClementsBill HaeslerKim HarrisRichard HughesGretel JamesAndrew MottKen Simpson-BullLee Treanor

PhotographersGeoff KingTom LucasDr Pam Clements

Newsletter Editorial CommitteeJohn Thrum ChairmanDr Pam ClementsGraeme GaulwayGretel JamesLes NewmanTerry NormanKen Simpson-Bull

Board of ManagementBill Ford PresidentTerry Norman Vice PresidentRay Sutton General ManagerMel Blachford Collections ManagerGretel James SecretaryLee Treanor Treasurer

Committee Members:Jeff BladesMargaret HarveyDr.Ray Marginson A MBarry MitchellLes NewmanMarina Pollard

ContactVJA Inc. “Koomba Park” 15 Mountain Hwy.

Wantirna 3152 Mel Ref 63 CBTel. 9800 5535E. info@vicjazzarchive.org.au

www.vicjazzarchive.org.auOpen Tues & Fri. 10am-3pm

VJAZZ 46 Page 11

Jazzart RecordsUrgent Request

FROM 1948 to 1953 Melbourne’s Bob Clemens released forty-two 78s and threeLPs on his own Jazzart label. The VJA is preparing the release, on five CDs, of thecomplete catalogue. These important recordings contain the work of (mainly) Mel-bourne’s best jazz musicians of the period.

Unfortunately the VJA is lacking some of these records and we are hoping thatsome of our readers who have Jazzart records in their collection may be able tohelp us with a short loan.

We would like to borrow the following discs:

JA 1/2 SYMPHONY SID / TALK OF THE TOWN - Errol BuddleJA 5/6 TEA FOR TWO / SEPTEMBER SONG - Three Bops No BeepJA20 SLOW BOOGIE / BOOGIE BLUES - Ron Gowan’s FivetteJA25 HEY, CHIC / CHOO CHOO BOOGIE - Ron Gowan’s FivetteJA30 FIESTA / JAPANESE SANDMAN - Don Harper QuintetJA49 CAN’T HELP LOVIN’ THAT MAN / WRAP YOUR TROUBLES IN DREAMS- Don BanksJA55 STARS FELL ON ALABAMA / HOW HIGH THE MOON - Splinter ReevesJA61 DANCE OF THE KORBIES / BLUE MOON - Bruce Clarke

Note: High quality uncompressed direct dubs of any of the above 78s are accept-able, with no noise reduction or any high or low frequency cut. Please leave run-in

and run-out noise.

You could join the following group visits booked in betweenMay and August.

Cost - members $5 non members $10

May 11thTuesdayTour 11am, Music 11.45, Morning Tea 12.30

May 27th ThursdayTour 1.30, Music 2.15, Afternoon Tea 3pm

June 8th TuesdayTour 10am, Music 10.45, Morning Tea 11.30

June 16th WednesdayTour 10am, Music 10.45 Morning Tea 11.30

June 23nd WednesdayTour 10 am, Music 10.45 Morning Tea 11.30

June 30th WednesdayTour 10am, Music 10.45, Morning Tea 11.30

July 16th FridayTour 10 am, Music 10.45, Morning Tea 11.30

July 23nd FridayTour 10 am, Music 10.45 Morning Tea 11.30

July 30th FridayTour 10.30, Music 11.15, Morning Tea 12noon

August 19th ThursdayTour 10am, Music 10.45, Morning Tea 11.30

For information and booking contact Marina 9781 4971

Do you want to join a tour of the VJA,and relax with refreshments and live Jazz?

VJAZZ 46 Page 12

DISCLAIMEROpinions and views expressed in editorial and contributed articles are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Archive. The editor reservesthe right to publish abridged articles/special features due to space restraints. The Archive, editor and the authors expressly disclaim all and any liability toany person, whether an Archive member or not, who acts or fails to act as a consequence of reliance upon the whole or part of this publication. The editorreserves the right to not publish any articles, correspondence or illustrations that may be offensive or contrary to VJA practices and policies. Publication ofan advertisement does not necessarily constitute endorsement by the Archive of any product nor warrant its suitability. Advertisements are published assubmitted by the advertiser. E&OE.VJA BOARD OF MANAGEMENT

KEYBOARD

CORNERare proud to be sponsors ofThe Victorian Jazz Archive

We carry a huge range of allinstruments, and offer

special pricing to VictorianJazz Archive members

Contact Craig Johnston

KEYBOARD CORNER137 Boronia Road, Boronia 3155

9761 0003

This newsletter is proudly sponsored byCooper Newman Real Estate

Take the risk out of sellingCall today for honest advice on residential,

commercial and aged care real estate on 9831 9831

IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE

Thanks to our plea in VJAZZ 44 Don & MargaretAnderson were able to locate a badge from the5th AJC.

ALSO:Received in a recent donation from Jack Rickets —Copies of Vol. 1 & 2 of Jazz Titles - Origins.The Reference Library had Vol. 2 of Tell Your Story by

Eric Townley, covering the origin of names of jazzsongs recorded between 1951 & 1975 but neededVol. 1.

VJA Figures14,632 Number of volunteer hours for 2009

771 Number of visitors in 2009

1,114 Number of visiting musicians in 2009

Jazz Convention FactsTotal of attendees at the 64th Australian Jazz

Convention were:

Delegates 477

Musicians 434

Session passes 208—250

It was brought to our attention by one of our young readersthat the General Manager’s Report in our February issueneglected to mention that the under 25 Victorian Jazz Work-shop ensemble was one of the guest bands that played atthe Whitehorse Club to raise money for the Upper FerntreeGully Branch of the CFA.We regret this unfortunate omission.

PLEASE NOTEDATE FOR COPY

End of JuneFOR THE NEXT NEWSLETTER

Welcome New MembersSince our last newsletter we have welcomed the following new members:S. Ansell, T. Bimrose, L. & B. Blackson, P. Colby, R. & M. Constable, E. E. Coote, M. & K. Daniels, J. & D. Dikschei, J. Elston,K. Fisher, Y. Fisher, C. Gildersleeve, E. Harrison, I. & J. Henderson, H. Heywood, L. & R. Hodgson, D. Keleher, N. Mann, B.Maunder, D. & K. McBain, J. Miller, K & M Newall, L. Nicholls, B. Slattery, W. Spencer, R. B. Stride, G. & J. Styles, N. Trinkle,G. & B. Webster, B. Yandell.

Cash DonationsWe wish to thank the following people for their generous cash donations:Dr. & Mrs L. Allen, L. Bennett, R. Coldicott, P. Collins-Jennings, J. Cooke, B. Coote, P. Dann, F. Doreen De Bruin, K. Dunbar,C. Gildersleeve, R. Green, F. Greenway, R. Hughes, F. Killeen, W. Liddy, R. May, W. & J. Mobilia, V. Morcom, A. Morrant, C.Picone, L. Pollard, H. Price, J. & J. Sharp, J. Speer, P. Thompson, G.Unmack, G. White, D. Whitworth.