Jazz & Blues
Jazz, ‘American classical music’, was ‘born’ in the highly musical city of New Orleans, USA in the late 1800s before spreading to Chicago & NY. Jazz has been alive and well in Australia since 1920s initiated by visiting overseas musicians. Both mainstream ‘swing’ jazz and the more contemporary ‘innovative’ style have enjoyed immense popularity with the swing particularly dominating the 1930s dance trends featuring the big bands. The evolution of Australian jazz was viewed by some as highly unconventional attracting a bohemian element of the population consisting mainly of artists and political radicals. Leading Australian jazz musicians at the time included Graeme Bell, Frank Coughlan. During 1960s and 70s, jazz was somewhat bypassed in favour of the new musical styles of pop and rock, but this was relatively short-lived and it has since gained momentum once more with excellent musicians such as Mike Nock, Bernie McGann & Don Burrows followed up by James Morrison & Vince Jones. Australia’s first Jazz Convention was held in 1946 and continues to this today together with hundreds of annual festivals held throughout the country. Some prestigious events include Melbourne Int Jazz Festival (Vic), Noosa Jazz Festival (Qld), Bunbury Int Jazz Festival (WA), Manly Int Jazz Festival (NSW).
Blues music, like jazz, found its origins in the US with African American folk singers in the early 1900s. A recording in 1920s of Mamie Smith’s ‘Crazy Blues’ sparked a widespread interest in this genre for the first time paving the way for the countless, mostly black artists that followed with varying styles of blues such as classical and country. Australian Blues has been very much defined by 2 bands - Chain from Melbourne and Foreday Riders, a Sydney group.

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