Graeme Bell
| Graeme Bell | |
|---|---|
| Born |
7 September 1914 Richmond, Victoria, Australia |
| Died | 13 June 2012 (aged 97) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Genres | Jazz, dixieland |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, band leader |
| Instruments | Piano |
| Years active | 1935–2006 |
| Labels | Ampersand, Supraphon, Regal Zonophone, EMI, Angel, Festival, Jazzology, Swaggie, Newmarket Music |
Graeme Emerson Bell, AO, MBE (7 September 1914 – 13 June 2012) was an Australian Dixieland and classical jazz pianist, composer and band leader. According to The Age, his "band's music was hailed for its distinctive Australian edge, which he describes as 'nice larrikinism' and 'a happy Aussie outdoor feel'".
Aside from playing, Bell was one of the leading promoters of jazz in Australia, bringing American performers such as Rex Stewart to Australia. He was the first Australian jazz band leader who was still playing at 90 years of age and the first Westerner to lead a jazz band to China.
The Australian Jazz Awards commenced in 2003. They are also known as The Bells, named in his honour.
On 13 June 2012, at age 97, Bell died after a stroke.
Bell was born in 1914 in Richmond, Victoria, Australia, to John Alexander Bell, who had performed musical comedy and music hall on the early Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) radio, and Mary Elvina "Elva" (née Rogers) Bell, who had been a contralto recitalist in Dame Nellie Melba's company. His younger brother, Roger Bell (1919–2008), was also a jazz musician.
From the age of 12, Bell had weekly piano lessons in classical music by Jesse Stewart Young, a contemporary of his mother. His parents paid for the piano lessons for the first four years. He attended Scotch College in 1929 and 1930, where he enjoyed playing cricket and creating contemporary art including sketches for the Scotch Collegian. He left school at age 16 during the Great Depression and worked for T & G Insurance as a clerk for over nine years, and had a stint as a farm hand. He paid for his own piano lessons for two further years, and in later years he supplemented his income by teaching.
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