Why is Wollongong riding a jazz revival wave?
Illawarra music lovers had never fallen out of love with that beguiling and vibrant lifeforce known as jazz
Wollongong music lovers had never fallen out of love with that beguiling and vibrant lifeforce known as jazz – it’s just had a few rocky times over the years.
So says Ron Bannerman, a jazz lover since he first started playing saxophone as a teenager in 1958. It was a time when rock’n’roll was starting out but Ron was always drawn to jazz.
“It just covers so much – Dixieland, traditional, swing, ballads,” Ron said, and while he’s not playing as much these days, the 85-year-old from Corrimal still can’t get enough of the live jazz music scene which in the Illawarra is stronger than ever.
As reported in The Illawarra Flame, the inaugural one-day Jazz in the City held recently was a foot-stomping success, bringing out those who have always enjoyed the genre as well as a new breed of fans.
Ron is the first to admit that winning over a whole new, younger audience is what has always kept the local jazz scene alive.
He recalls his first big break as a much younger man, answering the call when the legendary Belmore Basin Jazz Band needed a one-month fill in for their regular gigs at the Harp Hotel. It was the 1980s and Ron was hooked.
The long-time member of the Illawarra Jazz Club, now vice president, formed the band Short & Horny 35 years ago, and while there have been line-up changes over the years, they’re still one of the region’s most popular live performance groups.
Ron helped set up the Illawarra Jazz Festival which was a success for so many years, but like so many of our favourite things, COVID spelt its demise.
A jazz home for everyone
The local scene has drawn people from all walks of life and from all over the world.
Trombonist Phil Swain was classically trained and joined his first big band in Manchester as a 15-year-old.
When he decided to migrate to Australia in 1989, his favourite trombone was the first thing he packed.
Now living in Farmborough Heights, Phil fondly remembers joining the Wollongong Conservatorium Big Band soon after his arrival, playing with Eros at many Illawarra Jazz Festivals and then finding his place in Short & Horny 25 years ago (and still going strong).
Illawarra Jazz Club president Shelley Rae King says she fell into jazz by chance. She was in her early 20s and working at the University of Wollongong as a paralegal when she joined the club. Her boss at the time was the club’s president “and I absolutely fell in love with it right away”.
It wasn’t long after joining that Shelley realised she could sing and she’s been a regular on stage since.
“I’m not really into the modern jazz sound,” Shelley said. “Give me the classics – Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong.”
Shelley, from Dapto, will be performing this Saturday afternoon (June 20) downstairs at Collegians with Pete’s Marauders.
Also performing on Saturday will be Helensburgh’s French-born Annick Gouw, whose speciality, not surprisingly, is singing French classics.
“It’s wonderful having live jazz in the city every Saturday afternoon (2-5pm) Annick said. “We are probably the only jazz club in Australia that has a show every week.”
Looking ahead, for the regular $10 cover charge, there’s a treat ahead on August 15 when New York-based Australian Adrian Cunningham will bring his Kings of Swing show to Collies.
The award-winning multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, composer and world traveller is a winner of the Hot House Saxophone Award (NYC), and his band, Professor Cunningham and His Old School, is the winner of the international band competition, World Jam. They were also named best band at the Harlem Festival in Lithuania.
The following week, Short & Horny will return, and you can catch all the latest on the local jazz scene on VOX-FM when Short & Horny founder Ron Bannerman presents his radio show And All That Jazz every Thursday morning from 8-10am.
