OBITUARIES

This folder includes obituaries for jazz musicians or persons of significance to the Australian jazz community, written by several contributors. Click on the INDEX box to access a list of obituaries contained in this folder.

OBITUARY: MIKE WILLIAMS 1926-1986

by John Shand

Jazz Magazine, Winter 1986

Mike Williams was not only a doyen of jazz criticism in this country, but was also an ardent fighter of the bewitching effects of ‘cultural cringe’ on the Australian jazz scene. Born in England on August 16, 1926, Mike’s entry into journalism came after serving in the British Navy during the Second World War. But Williams and his wife Betty found this a bleak period to be living in Britain. In 1948, the Graeme Bell band toured there, and this provided the spur-of-the-moment catalyst for them to give Australia a try. Three weeks later, they were on their way…

OBITUARY: ROGER HUDSON 1934-1986

by Bruce Johnson

Jazz Magazine, Winter 1986

Although born in Richmond, Melbourne, on January 1, 1934,  Roger Hudson had moved to Adelaide before he began playing piano. Early bands with which he worked were John Pickering’s Cross Road Jazz Band, the Adelaide University Four, and the first of his own Baron Hudson’s Eumenthol Jazz Jubes. He was a vigorous proselytiser for the music before the fashionable boom of the early 60s, and was co-founder of the Adelaide Jazz Society in 1956, remaining Secretary until 1961…

OBITUARY: JOHN SPEIGHT 1935-2007

by John Shand

Sydney Morning Herald, February 6, 2007

For nearly 30 years, upwards of 80,000 Sydneysiders have flocked to the Manly Jazz Festival, unaware of the man behind the music. John Speight, who has died aged 71, was simply too busy to become well-known. Speight was the director of the Manly festival for 28 of its 29 years, taking over after its first year. He initiated many other jazz events…