[Dixielandjazz] Harry Harman

[Joe Bebco]

Re: Marek Boym: Harry Harman

I had the same question. I took the reference from a local newspaper
profile of Harman. It was referring to music in cabarets and dance
halls rather than radio, and I can see swing still dominating in those
settings. Obviously it was the UK Trad revival that brought the Sydney
Jazz Club up to large attendance numbers but in 1953 I can see
Australia as being slightly behind the curve, and that was before rock
and other forms had taken off anywhere. There must have already been
some trad scene going for him to have been recruited to form a band in
1948. But I would say that even in Las Vegas or Atlantic City in 1953,
and even much later, finding a dance hall or restaurant featuring
swing music and vocalists would be the expectation, even if the bands
were not as "big" by then. But I'm only 39 so my view of popular
history comes second hand.

There are videos from the last 20 years on the Sydney Jazz Club
website, and others on Youtube but I have no idea about discography. I
would expect that he recorded but it wasn't mentioned in anything I
read while getting the story together.

I was very happy to get a post through on DJML. I finally tried it
text only, I think you were the one who told me to do that.

Thanks!


Joe Bebco
Associate Editor
SyncopatedTimes.com (315) 507-5490
A monthly newspaper covering Hot Jazz, Ragtime, and Swing.

On Sat, Jan 5, 2019 at 1:02 PM Marek Boym <marekboym at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Always sorry to hear of another musician's passing.  I've tried to find anything with Harry Harman in my collection, but so far to no avail.  I have, however, found a Graeme Bell All Stars CD featuring listmate Jack Wiard.
> But the obit raises a question:
> Were the early '50's indeed dominated by swing and singers in Australia?  In the UK, the trad revival was already riding high (but had not yet reached the later excesses), and big bands were not really economically feasible in the US, although some, like Harry James' and Less Brown's were still going strong.  I know, there were others - I listened through three or four volumes of "Tony Cabot - Swinging on Campus," only to find out that it had nothing to do with the swinging bands of the '30's and '40's!
> Cheers
>
> On Sat, 5 Jan 2019 at 19:33, Joe Bebco <joe.syncopatedtimes at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Harry Harman, Australian Gentleman of Jazz, Dies at 91
>>
>> The Syncopated Times
>> https://syncopatedtimes.com/harry-harman-australian-gentleman-of-jazz-dies-at-91/
>>
>>
>> Harry Harman, an Australian traditional jazz devotee, died January 2nd
>> at age 91. He was recently active with his band Harry Harman’s
>> Gentlemen of Jazz, The Dixie Stompers, The New Wolverine Jazz
>> Orchestra, in small groups, and as the host of  The Rhythm Club, a
>> Wednesday afternoon jazz radio program in Gosford, NSW. His
>> contributions to traditional jazz in Australia began over 70 years
>> ago.
>>
>> In 1948 he formed the Paramount Jazz Band after attending a jazz
>> convention in Melbourne. At the time he was playing guitar but
>> switched to tuba to fill a need. In 1953 the band founded the Sydney
>> Jazz Club, just to have a place to play regularly for a small group of
>> fans. At its peak, the club’s events would draw as many as 1200 people
>> for traditional jazz at a time when swing and vocalists dominated
>> Australian nightclubs. In the mid-50s the club organized a jazz school
>> so that they could have young alternates available when musicians had
>> family or work obligations. The club still hosts monthly events.
>>
>> In the late 50s, he switched from tuba to double bass to play with the
>> Port Jackson Jazz Band. In 1962 he joined the Graeme Bell’s All-Stars
>> and began his only five years as a full-time professional musician.
>> For one of those years, again to fill a need, he learned and played
>> the banjo before returning to tuba and bass for most of his career.
>>
>> He was a founding member of the New Wolverine Jazz Orchestra in 1984,
>> and after retiring from his career as an electrical wholesaler,
>> devoted much of his time to the band. They played the Edinburgh Jazz
>> Festival in 1993 and toured the United States nine times, most
>> recently in 2007. Many American musicians and fans remember him from
>> Bix Fest and other events.
>>
>> Back home he has hosted jazz programs on community radio for almost 25
>> years. He was awarded The Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in
>> 2010 for service to Jazz.
>>
>>
>> Joe Bebco
>> Associate Editor
>> SyncopatedTimes.com (315) 507-5490
>> A monthly newspaper covering Hot Jazz, Ragtime, and Swing.
>>
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