Australian Jazz Convention Explained

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, 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]

Notes and References

1. Book: The Dictionary of Performing Arts in Australia: Opera, dance, music, Volume 2 . Allen & Unwin . 1996 . 9781863738989 . 20.
2. Web site: Rinaldo . Talia . 2015-12-22 . Australian Jazz Convention . 2023-05-18 . Forte Magazine . en-AU.
3. Book: Johnson, Bruce . Jazz Planet . . 2012 . 9781628469257 . Atkins . E. Taylor . 151 . Naturalising the exotic - The Australian Jazz Convention.
4. Book: Johnson, Bruce . The Routledge Companion to Jazz Studies . 2019 . 9781315315782 . Diasporic Jazz.
5. Web site: Duncan . Carol . 2022-12-17 . Australian Jazz Convention 1964 . 2023-05-18 . Lost Newcastle . en-AU.
6. Web site: 2014-10-24 . The Collection . 2023-05-18 . Australian Jazz Museum . en-AU.
7. Anderson . Margaret . Feb 2020 . AUSTRALIAN JAZZ CONVENTION ARCHIVE REPORT 2019 . AJazz . 85 . 15 . 2203-4811.
8. Web site: Jazz Notes (1949) Fourth Australian Jazz Convention - NFSA . 2023-05-18 . NFSA Online Shop . en.
9. Web site: Osicka . Tamara . The Father of Australian Jazz - Vale, Graeme Bell . 18 May 2023 . The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.