Eumundi Voice - Issue 99, 8 August 2024

MUSIC

History of jazz in Australia

The Noosa Jazz Festival is set to kick off on 22 August and will be very well attended based on past events. There will be multiple bands playing in various venues, which gives those attending the opportunity to wander around and listen to the different sounds and playing styles of some very talented musicians.

Have you ever wondered how jazz got started in Australia? Jazz has been around in some form in Australia since just after the cessation of WWI. This was marked by several performances by Belle Sylvia and her jazz band, generally regarded as Australia’s first jazz band. Performances by visiting bands from the USA in 1923 then resulted in this genre of music becoming the most popular in the nation.

The late 1920’s became a time of great change in music and the popularity of jazz increased due to its aggressive and energetic sound. However, during the Great Depression (1929-1939) jazz was overtaken by more sombre and soothing forms of music such as American popular songs.

As Australia began to emerge from the Depression, the 1930’s saw the emergence of swing – a more widespread accepted jazz idiom – as it was more appealing. It did, however, rekindle the popularity of jazz.

Melbourne and Sydney were the main centres of early jazz. In the early 1940’s a concert of ‘hot jazz’ was presented in Melbourne that featured Graeme Bell’s band, Don Banks and others in a big jam session. This was done to highlight the emergence of jazz improvisation that drew a clear distinction between jazz and other forms of music, including swing.

WWII saw the move back to sentimental music. However, with the increasing influx of American armed forces in Australia, this saw a revitalisation of jazz, due to the high quality of jazz players amongst the visiting troops.

By the end of the war through to the early 1960’s jazz further distanced itself from other music genres into two main types – modern and traditional. Visiting jazz greats like Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Buddy Rich and Dave Brubeck had a huge effect on the jazz movement in Australia, where local jazz bands learnt so much from these visiting jazz stars. Australian jazz began to develop its own style, incorporating many forms of overseas jazz formats as well as benefiting from a growing multicultural immigrant population.

Australian jazz has survived the emergence of genres such as ‘rock-and-roll’ and maintained a strong following of ardent supporters, as it continues to have an excellent reputation for producing quality jazz performers on the world stage.

Greg Ison