Before becoming a crusty old cynical guitarist of the jazzy kind, and I mean ‘way before’ my early recollections of music as a small child were my grandmother Kath who would play stride piano never looking at her hands, fag in mouth and smiling; occasionally joined by my granddad Jim on the banjo (he also played saxophone). They had a dance band for many years in Melbourne in which my Uncle Len played drums. My father Bob and mother Pat are also key in my earliest memories of music. The house was always full of musicians and the strange hangers on that seemed to appear and disappear at random. My Uncle Len was usually involved as well, so you can see, the seeds of my destiny were beginning to take root. There was always a lot of laughter, occasional rough times too, but I felt happy enough. When I was eight my sister Loretta and I put on a variety show (must have been crook!!) to raise money for the spastic society, writing and performing all the parts! Phew! Talk about ambitious! I think we made about $8. At the same time we used to go to the beer garden of the chevron hotel in surfers paradise (where we’d moved) to hear Bob in Graham Bell’s All Stars, where I’d get a pie in my face as the stooge in one of their vaudeville sketches. I loved it!
My young life was taken up with travelling from New South Wales to Victoria and Queensland and was hectic but interesting and fun. One of our regular babysitters was John Sangster. Later on after we’d settled in Bondi when I was about ten through to fifteen, I’d come home from school or wake up at night and people like Buddy Rich, Bobby Hackett, Turk Murphy, Kenny Daverne and Lou Stein would be sitting in the lounge room. Wow! I appreciate that a lot more now than I did then. I remember Bobby Hackett saying ‘Where are we? Sydney?! Got any Cornflakes?’ By this time I’d been playing guitar a while, I started when I was 11 (25c a lesson and a $10 guitar) and was quite familiar with the music of these guys. My mother was always encouraging me to play an listen to music and introduced me to a broad range of classical and folk music, which gave me a good outlook to balance all the jazz that was constantly part of my life. Mum was always playing the minute waltz in about 45 seconds flat, she had good chops and inspired me to teach myself a bit of piano. I even played a few of my earliest gigs on piano and organ. Dad was always brining home famous people, musicians and actors including Barry Humphreys, who Bob collaborated on a song with. I was thrilled years later to work with Barry myself in London and reminded him of the song which I think he recently resurrected.
I did my very first ‘proper’ gig in early 1974 at the age of 14 with a couple of school mates and a kid from round the corner playing blues and rock. It was at a Croatian club in Sydney’s western suburbs. We thought we would conquer the world and it felt like it when 1500 Croatian people showed up! (I think they were there to see the traditional dance and costumes of the Croatian show actually!!). We earned the phenomenal sum of $5 between us I recall. The road the stardom beckoned...
After leaving school at the end of ’74 (15 years old, stupid really) (I’ve just finished a BA (Hons.) degree now that I’m 47) I worked for CBS music selling instruments and meeting guys like Billy Thorpe and many other people less accomplished. I quit that job to take my little band playing original classical music on a tour of northern New South Wales in a double-decker bus with a bunch of hippies; god I thought that was cool (if a little unnerving!). We were run out of several towns, Mullumbimby being the one I recall most vividly, because we had long hair and velvet clothes!! Ah, artistes! No kidding, a road block was set up and everything. I think it had something more to do with the fact that the business owner/driver was an ex-cop who’d done time for growing pot. Anyway, an eye opener for a 16 year old.
Then I heard Tal Farlow and my musical perception was changed forever. It was just after this that I met Dale Barlow, we were both about 17 years old. I did a couple of gigs around Sydney with him. There weren’t really any other young guys out there playing jazz, and no such thing as jazz courses or support for young musicians like there is today. By the time I’d reached 20 my trio and quartet were doing 5 residencies a week and our record was 15 gigs in one week! What ever happened to those days?? At 23 I was musical director on the cruise ship Fairstar and had far too many adventures, musical and otherwise for mention here. I managed to form Australia’s first 5 guitar band ‘Interplay’ and toured it for a few years at festivals and jazz clubs, as well as my legendary ‘All Hat Jazz Band’ featuring brother Adam which worked everywhere from 1988 through to 1995.
I was lucky to have been around at a particularly vibrant time in Australian jazz and got to be friends with and perform with many of the great characters that were about. Guys like John Sangster, Chris ‘Smedley’ Qua, and Galapagos Duck to name a few.
Many gigs and jazz festivals later (twenty five years worth!) I moved to London where I still am at present. I’ve since played in Berlin, Paris, Singapore, Brussels, Venice, Verona, Amsterdam and Dublin to mention a few and have performed at Ronnie Scott’s regularly, the 606 club and many other venues around the UK. As always meeting and performing with some fabulous musicians and characters.
Jazz and music has taken me on some wonderful journeys, you wouldn’t believe some of the places I’ve performed in from smoky basements to castles and stately homes to muddy fields…….
…… and it’s not over yet….