Roger Frampton

Roger Frampton (20 May 1948 – 4 January 2000) was an Australian jazz pianist, saxophonist, composer, and educator. Based in Sydney, he played a major role in shaping the evolution of Australian jazz. He taught at the Jazz Studies course at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and also became Head of Jazz Studies during the late 1970s.

Born in Portsmouth, England in 1948, Frampton began learning piano and saxophone at an early age and by the age of 15 he had formed his own modern jazz group which played in local clubs, also performing with top English jazz musicians such as Don Rendel, Bill Le Sage and Joe Harriott.

He migrated to Australia with his family in December 1966 and in the following year joined the experimental electronic music group Teletopa and also AZ Music, which performed the works of John Cage, Steve Reich and others. Frampton toured overseas with Teletopa in 1972, playing in London at the International Carnival of Experimental Sound, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and in Munich, Manila, Tokyo, Amsterdam and Cambridge.

On returning to Australia, he formed a trio, the Jazz Co/op, along with Sydney drummer Phil Treloar and bassist Jack Thorncraft. In 1974 this trio was expanded to a quartet when joined by US saxophonist Howie Smith who was in Sydney for three years, setting up Australia’s first formal jazz course at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

The Jazz Co/op was in demand in Sydney over the following two years. It played over thirty engagements at Sydney’s major jazz club of that time, The Basement, as well as many other performances including the Musician’s Club, Sydney Town Hall, the Sydney Opera House, and the Conservatorium of Music. The band also recorded two albums for Horst Liepolt’s “44” record label.

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