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: CLARE BAIL 1926–2018

by Eric Myers

December, 2018

Clare Bail was born in Adelaide on May 26, 1926. He began playing at 18 and after about three years, along with other talented local musicians such as Errol Buddle, Johnny Bamford and Bryce Rohde, felt compelled to leave Adelaide to seek playing opportunities. He quickly moved to Melbourne and then on to Sydney.  It is not known exactly when he arrived in Sydney, but he first recorded in December, 1947 at the age of 21…

OBITUARY: HORST LIEPOLT 1927-2019

by Eric Myers

January 17, 2019

Influential in three cities — Melbourne, Sydney and New York — Horst Liepolt came from an artistic family. His grandfather was a classical oboe player from Sweden, who migrated to Germany to join the Berlin Philharmonic, and his mother a concert pianist. His father was a writer. The young Horst was uninterested in classical music, and frequently fell asleep at the classical concerts to which he was dragged by his mother. Still, as a child, he was into sound...

OBITUARY: HARRY HARMAN OAM 1927-2019

by Bill Haesler

Sydney Jazz Club Newsletter, February 2019

Sadly, jazz veteran and Sydney Jazz Club co-patron Harry Harman died on Thursday, 3 January 2019. It was an unexpected loss to Australian jazz for he was a dear friend to many of us and a mentor to dozens of musicians. Kind, gentle, cheerful, self-effacing, fun-loving and nature's gentleman are some apt descriptions for this lovable musician who played tuba and sousaphone, string bass, banjo and guitar. He was also a bandleader, always a loyal and dedicated sideman and a popular jazz community radio presenter who devoted much of his life to jazz…