If you're not a regular jazz listener, you might imagine the genre as most at home in dusty vinyl collections. But 15 years ago the ABC set its jazz listeners a challenge: to embrace the digital world.
Today, ABC Jazz is one of the most popular digital networks in Australia. It's the only place in the country you can hear jazz 24/7.
It's also been a key part of the country's jazz scene, at gigs and festivals, recording and commissioning a broad range of local artists, and being a part of projects supporting young and more diverse talent.
Bringing the who's who of jazz to Australia for 80 years
ABC Jazz continues a long legacy of jazz at the ABC.
The trailblazer of jazz on radio in Australia was Dr Clem Semmler who hosted Drop Me Off At Harlem on ABC Adelaide from 1940 to 1943, and later, Thursday Night Swing Club from the ABC in Sydney. He was once described by Eric Meyers as a broadcaster who "pioneered the introduction of jazz to the ABC."
From 1949, the who's who of jazz in Australia were the cornerstones of the ABC's extension into touring: The Graeme Bell Band, the Australian Jazz Quintet, and the Len Barnard Band.
This initiated an ABC concert series that included artists like Don Burrows who also presented a popular jazz program on ABC TV for six years from 1981.
In the I950's, Eric Child started the ABC's Saturday morning jazz program that was on air for 30 years. Other voices of jazz through this time included Kym Bonython, Arch McKirdy, Ian Neill and Ralph Rickman.
From 1976, Jim McLeod's Jazztrack program became an institution on ABC Classic. McLeod presented the show until his retirement in 2004 when Mal Stanley took the reins.
48 years on, Jazztrack is still digging deep into music from established to emerging artists.
Bringing Jazz into the digital world
Jazz hit digital in 2004 with the online service Dig Jazz. This evolved to the digital station we know today, which launched on July 1, 2009.
Devoted 24 hours a day to live and recorded jazz, available anywhere around the world, ABC Jazz was, and still is, unique.
From the moment it was born, the Australian jazz scene was an integral part of the station.
Just seven days after launching, the network captured its first studio session, recording pianist Judy Bailey with trumpet player Todd Hardy.
Studio recordings are still a vital part of the station's work today, bringing a stream of new Australian jazz to the airwaves, with music also released on the ABC Music record label.
A regular fixture at festivals like Wangaratta and the Melbourne International Jazz Festival it has brought the sounds of local and international artists into living rooms across Australia.
Working with Australian greats from Paul Grabowsky to Kate Ceberano, the network has racked up ARIA and Australian Jazz Bell Awards for their recordings over the years.
Hitting the international scene
International jazz legends have always been a part of jazz at the ABC, but in 2019 ABC Jazz hit global audiences in a new way.
Hosted by Herbie Hancock, the 2019 UNESCO International Jazz Day concert in Melbourne was streamed to audiences around the world.
The all-star event brought together international talent like Hancock and vocalist Kurt Elling, as well as Australian favourites including James Morrison and William Barton.
Over the years ABC Jazz has recorded artists including Dee Dee Bridgewater, Maria Schneider and Wayne Shorter.
In 2019 the crew brought Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Centre Orchestra's Melbourne concert to listeners across the country. That recording went on to be released on the orchestra's world-renowned Blue Engine Records.
Nurturing the next Australian jazz greats
Celebrating the luminaries of yesteryear comes with an important duty to support the artists of the future.
This includes working with winning artists from the Freedman Jazz Fellowship over the years, with names making a splash today like pianists Tal Cohen and Emma Stephenson, and guitarist Hilary Geddes.
During the pandemic years, ABC Jazz began a commissioning project aimed at supporting diverse jazz musicians.
Commissions since then have been as varied as Omid Shayan's exploration of the intersection of jazz and Iranian music, to Zodiac quartet's debut album inspired by the ensemble's Asian-Australian experience.
Supporting initiatives to increase the representation of music by women and gender diverse artists, ABC Jazz has been working on several projects.
In 2022 the station commissioned Nat Bartsch to compose for International Women's Day. Her piece Busy/Quiet, reflecting on the challenges mothers and artists faced through the pandemic, was recognised as Jazz Work of the Year in the 2023 Art Music Awards.
Loading...The same year, Yuin composer, saxophonist and singer Brenda Gifford was commissioned to write ABC Jazz's Acknowledgement of Country, played daily at 8am.
In recent years the network has been the broadcast partner of the Melbourne International Jazz Festival's Take Note and First Nations Artist Residency programs. working with artists including Amos Roach, Elliott Lamb, Brenda Gifford, Flora Carbo and Cheryl Durongpisitkul.
With a rich grounding in the past, and eyes firmly on the future, the next 15 years of ABC Jazz looks bright.
Jazz Hall of Fame inductee, Dr Tony Gould AM sums it up nicely. "ABC Jazz has an integral, critical role in this country in presenting jazz music from overseas, but more importantly highlighting the wonderful artistry of Australian musicians."
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2024-06-30 23:00:00Z
CBMiQmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDI0LTA3LTAxL2FiYy1qYXp6LXR1cm5zLTE1LzEwNDAzNjU2MtIBKGh0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMDQwMzY1NjI
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