Bob Barnard took Australian jazz to a global high note

BOB BARNARD:1933–2022

There aren’t many musicians who can boast an almost 70-year career at the top of their game. Jazz trumpeter Bob Barnard was one such musician;rare because from first till last,he dazzled.

Bob Barnard plays at the Berry School of Arts as part of the 2004 Shoalhaven Jazz Festival.

Bob Barnard plays at the Berry School of Arts as part of the 2004 Shoalhaven Jazz Festival.Fairfax

An unassuming man,he was more comfortable playing trumpet or cornet than speaking,and that comfort showed the minute he walked on stage,his virtuosity immediately apparent. That golden sound. He’s long been acknowledged as a trailblazer of Australian jazz,helping propel the emerging local scene into a fully fledged art form. From his early days playing Dixieland-style traditional jazz to his later work in television bands,orchestral settings,and following his own personal jazz explorations,Bob always played with extraordinary lyricism. You can tell a Bob Barnard recording a mile off:his style,grace and tone are so very distinctive.

Robert Graeme Barnard was born on November 24,1933 and grew up in the Melbourne beachside suburb of Mentone. His parents,Kath (piano/bandleader) and Jim (sax/drums/banjo) had a successful dance band that played around Melbourne for decades. It was always a given that Bob and his older brother Len (1929–2005) would be part of the family band and Len joined as drummer at the age of 11,while Bob slept under the piano.

Trumpet lessons began at 11,and in 1947 at 13,he debuted with the family band. That year Len formed his own band,which is when Bob’s career truly began. The brothers listened intently to every recording they could lay their hands on:recordings were not simply to be enjoyed,they were an education. What better teachers than Louis Armstrong,Bix Beiderbecke,Duke Ellington,and Australian bandleader Graeme Bell? By 1949 they had a residency at Mentone Life Saving Club,and by the time Len’s band made its first recording – on Bob’s 16th birthday – Bob was already known across Melbourne as a red hot player. These were heady days where many lifelong bonds were forged.

Len’s band embarked on a national tour in 1955 hoping to raise enough money to fund a tour to England and Europe but,having started in triumph,it ended in disaster when they were cheated of their takings. They ended up in Tumut,sleeping in cars on a freezing winter’s night,and were only saved when the ABC offered them some half-hour broadcasts,providing them with enough money to get home. The life of a jazz musician is never easy.

The Bob Barnard Jazz Band,1979. From left:John Costelloe,Bob Barnard,Lawrie Thompson,John McCarthy,Chris Taperell,Wally Wickham.

The Bob Barnard Jazz Band,1979. From left:John Costelloe,Bob Barnard,Lawrie Thompson,John McCarthy,Chris Taperell,Wally Wickham.

By then Bob’s reputation was well and truly established,but promised gigs often didn’t eventuate and money was always tight. So when in 1957,bandleader Ray Price invited him to work in Sydney,he grabbed the opportunity. On his return to Melbourne the following year,he took a job at Brash’s music store,working there until 1962. Brash’s traded on his reputation to sell trumpets,even using his name in their advertising. The year 1962 proved a turning point when he returned to Sydney to join Graeme Bell’s All Stars,the most famous jazz band in Australia. He worked with Bell during much of the 1960s,performing on stage,on television and on tour both at home and abroad. He also began writing his own songs.

Bob was an inaugural member of the Daly-Wilson Big Band,and worked with bandleaders Enzo Toppano,Tommy Tycho and Bob Gibson. By the late 1960s he was a jack-of-all-trades,doing theatre work,session work,and being part house bands for television shows on the ABC,Channel 7 and Channel 9. He continued to play jazz,his great love. Bob spoke at length about this period in the Alfred Hook Memorial Lecture he gave at the Sydney Conservatorium in 2011.

In 1974,he formed his own band with Chris Taperell (piano),John McCarthy (clarinet),John Costelloe (trombone),Wally Wickham (bass) and Lawrie Thompson (drums). The band enjoyed a long residency at the Rocks Push,then Sydney’s premier jazz club. They toured extensively across Australia,before taking the international jazz scene by storm. At the 1976 Bix Beiderbecke Festival in Iowa for instance,the audience went wild. They’d never heard anything like it:a non-American band playing jazz (which originated in America) so much better than many Americans. How,they wondered,was this possible? For international audiences,Australian jazz had arrived – and it was here to stay.

Bob’s band toured America,Canada,South-East Asia,the UK,right across Europe. They even performed in Tehran,in the days before the shah was overthrown. Back home,Bob was a household name;in 1980,the streets on a new housing estate on Queensland’s Gold Coast were named after Bob and his band members,an honour not usually accorded to musicians. Our home often hosted musicians visiting from abroad:big names like Cat Anderson,Bobby Hackett (who ate cornflakes in our lounge room),Kenny Ball,Acker Bilk,Oscar Peterson and many more.

Band Leader Bob Barnard welcomed home to Sydney by daughter Loretta after his five-week,10,000 mile tour of the USA,1976.

Band Leader Bob Barnard welcomed home to Sydney by daughter Loretta after his five-week,10,000 mile tour of the USA,1976.Fairfax

As a solo artist from the mid-1980s until his retirement about five years ago,Bob toured the world – accompanied by his wife Danielle whom he’d married in 1993 – performing and recording with the biggest names in international jazz. He appeared repeatedly at every national and international jazz festival,often as headline act. He even had a whole jazz festival named for him,the Bob Barnard Jazz Party,held every year between 1999-2008 in Melbourne. Over his illustrious career he made countless recordings:either under his own name,as sideman,or as guest artist.

Bob often spoke of career highlights,such as recordingThe Naked Dance (1961) with his brother Len;playing with Louis Armstrong on the tarmac of Sydney airport in 1963;recordingMusic to Midnight in 1980,where he was backed by a large string orchestra under the direction of pianist Kenny Powell;doingJust Foolin’ Around (1987) with singer Ricky May.

Bob Barnard plays Louis Armstrong’s trumpet in New York.

Bob Barnard plays Louis Armstrong’s trumpet in New York.

He was integral to the iconicLord of the Rings series composed by John Sangster. Never one to be underestimated,he recorded a reinterpretation of pieces from the classical repertoire with pianist Julian Lee in 1979. He was awarded an Order of Australia in 1990 for his considerable contribution to Australian music and ambassadorship of Australian jazz;in 2010 he was inducted into the Australian Bell Jazz Awards Hall of Fame.

In 2012,with his writer daughter Loretta,he wrote his pictorial memoir,which barely scrapes the surface of a life well-lived. Over the last few years,although his mind remained razor-sharp,Bob’s physical health steadily deteriorated. He most grieved not being able to go to other musicians’ gigs. He did,however,maintain his sense of humour:the day before he died he told a few jokes,still revelling in word play and the absurdity of life.

Gallery

Jazz musician Louis Armstrong arrives at Sydney's Mascot Airport on 27 October 1954 during his Australian tour. SUN NEWS Picture by RON IREDALE VINEGAR SYNDROME - NEG DESTROYED Qantas flight tarmac trumpeter trumpet jazzmen 1950s historic post war arts Australia Australian hhollins
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Bob mentored thousands of musicians,and was admired across all musical genres. Since his death on May 7,2022 from complications associated with prostate cancer,there has been an astonishing torrent of tributes from across the globe,people acknowledging his undisputed influence and generosity of spirit.

A master musician,a gentleman,Bob is survived by Danielle;his children from his first marriage to Patricia Greig:Loretta,Tony and Adam;four grandchildren,one great-granddaughter and stepsons Marc and Philip Boass.

The musical gene,if such a thing exists,was passed on to sons,Tony (guitar) and Adam (drums),and grandsons,pianists Beau Golden and Casey Golden. They say music is in the blood. Perhaps they’re right.

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