[Dixielandjazz] All Star put downs????

[Jack Mitchell]

Gary Murphy asked

"1919?!  The ODJB had only just hit London by this point; was there really a jazz scene happening in Australia so soon? Not to sound patronizing or anything, I'm just a bit surprised that the world was so small in 1919 (although I'm sure WW1 helped to shrink it considerably) -- I have a copy of an early Combo Ork book published in Australia, which suggests a 
very healthy band scene there, but I think it dates from the mid to late twenties."

The first outfit to call itself a jazz band in Australia (locals led by American fiddler Billy Romaine ) did a season on Vaudeville stages in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane from June to October 1918. Numerous jazz bands (in name anyway) sprang up in 1919. An American amateur jazz band toured all the mainland states from Perth toTownsville from September 1919 to March 1920. 

In April 1920 The Syncopas Jazz Band (composed of airmen who had been influenced by the ODJB in London) opened the Wentworth Ballroom in Sydney for a six month season, after which they opened their own ballroom or cabaret which they called DIXIELAND. There's a lot more to be told - hopefully one day I'll finish my book on the twenties in Australia. How hot these groups were we'll never know, as disc recording didn't  start in Australia until 1925 (Melbourne) and 1926 (Sydney). The 1926 discs certainly show that local musicians were more than competent jazz musicians by then.

Best wishes
Jack Mitchell