The Australian Jazz Convention is the longest running annual jazz event in the world.[1]
The idea for the event originated when Abe Monsbourgh was serving in the RAAF in 1944 and wrote to a friend with an idea to run a “jazz convention” once the war had ended. The first Australian Jazz Convention was then held in Melbourne in December 1946, and was attended by musicians across Australia.[2][3] It was preceded by a one-off Sydney Jazz Week in 1919 as one of the earliest jazz events in the world.[4]
The jazz convention has since been held in different cities and states across Australia each year,[1] with the 76th edition held in Newcastle in 2022.[5]
The archives of the Australian Jazz Convention are held by the Australian Jazz Museum in Victoria.[6] Volunteers at the museum have been digitising audio and video recordings of past events.[7] The National Film and Sound Archive have also released recordings, including of 1949's convention,[8] and have a video recording of the 1970 convention featuring Graeme Bell.[9]
References
edit- ^ a b The Dictionary of Performing Arts in Australia: Opera, dance, music, Volume 2. Allen & Unwin. 1996. p. 20. ISBN 9781863738989.
- ^ Rinaldo, Talia (2015-12-22). "Australian Jazz Convention". Forte Magazine. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
- ^ Johnson, Bruce (2012). "Naturalising the exotic - The Australian Jazz Convention". In Atkins, E. Taylor (ed.). Jazz Planet. University Press of Mississippi. p. 151. ISBN 9781628469257.
- ^ Johnson, Bruce (2019). "Diasporic Jazz". The Routledge Companion to Jazz Studies. ISBN 9781315315782.
- ^ Duncan, Carol (2022-12-17). "Australian Jazz Convention 1964". Lost Newcastle. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
- ^ "The Collection". Australian Jazz Museum. 2014-10-24. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
- ^ Anderson, Margaret (Feb 2020). "AUSTRALIAN JAZZ CONVENTION ARCHIVE REPORT 2019" (PDF). AJazz (85): 15. ISSN 2203-4811.
- ^ "Jazz Notes (1949) Fourth Australian Jazz Convention - NFSA". NFSA Online Shop. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
- ^ Osicka, Tamara. "The Father of Australian Jazz - Vale, Graeme Bell". The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. Retrieved 18 May 2023.