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: DON BANKS 1923-1980

by Michael Barkl with Bruce Johnson

The Oxford Companion to Australian Music, Warren Bebbington (ed) 1997.

Composer Donald Oscar Banks was born in Melbourne on 25 October, 1923, and died in Sydney on 5 September, 1980. He played piano from the age of five, showing an early interest in improvisation which was developed from 1938 with fellow high school jazz enthusiasts including Keith Atkins (reeds)…

OBITUARY: DON BANKS 1923-1980

by Larry Sitsky

Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 13, (MUP), 1993

Donald Oscar Banks (1923-1980), composer, was born on 25 October 1923 in South Melbourne, son of Donald Waldemar Banks, musician, and his wife Elsie Catherine Sophia, née Carlson, both Victorian born. Educated at Cambridge College, Albert Park, during the Depression young Don transferred to Middle Park Central School and next to Melbourne Boys' High School. He had begun piano lessons at the age of 5 and learned to play the saxophone, violin and trombone in his youth. From an early age he 'sat in' with his father's dance band, and later played trombone with other bands, including that of Graeme Bell…

OBITUARY: ROGER FRAMPTON 1948-2000

by Kevin Jones

The Australian, January 10, 2000

The party was in full swing. The slight young pianist accompanied by a bass player was playing with imagination and flair. Drummer John Pochée, who had just finished his gig at the Sydney night club Chequers, picked up a radiator and, holding it like a guitar, began playing rhythmically on the three bars with a matchbox. There was an instant rapport with the pianist, who began incorporating Pochée's rhythms into the music. The year was 1968…