THE HISTORY AND AIMS OF THE AUSTRALIAN JAZZ CONVENTION
What Is The Australian Jazz Convention?
Whilst serving in the RAAF in 1944, musician Ade Monsbourgh wrote to his friend C. Ian Turner with the idea of running a ‘jazz convention’ after the war. This event would include musicians from other States. In 1946 a group of local jazz musicians and aficionados organised the first Australian Jazz Convention in Melbourne which had attendance from both Victoria and interstate. The convention has been held annually since then between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day at different venues, in every State, and also in the Australian Capital Territory.
The Australian Jazz Convention is organised on a non-profit basis by volunteer committees, where the musicians actually pay to attend and perform for and with their peers. Professional, semi-professional or amateur musicians, advanced players and beginners, combine their talents to produce the music they love. It would be true to say that many of Australia’s better-known jazz musicians began to make their reputations at conventions. Quite a number now are internationally recognised.
The Australian Jazz Convention is organised on a non-profit basis by volunteer committees, where the musicians actually pay to attend and perform for and with their peers. Professional, semi-professional or amateur musicians, advanced players and beginners, combine their talents to produce the music they love. It would be true to say that many of Australia’s better-known jazz musicians began to make their reputations at conventions. Quite a number now are internationally recognised.
Above: International guest artists from New Orleans - Shaye Cohn (Tuba Skinny) and
Marla Dixon (Shake 'Em Up Jazz Band) - at the 74th AJC in Albury, 2019
Above: Ade Monsbourgh, credited as one of the founding fathers of the AJC
The Australian Jazz Convention is the longest running annual jazz event in the world, and is organised as a convention for the musicians rather than a festival for the general public.
One of the aims of the Jazz Convention is to encourage and promote jazz in Australia; however this does not mean that conventions are serious affairs. On the contrary, they are happy occasions where many hundreds of people from all over Australia meet to exchange ideas and views, to hear and judge other musicians’ performances, to make new friends and renew old acquaintances.
At the convention people can take in at whatever level of appreciation they please, a feast of virile musical performance by musicians who play for the sheer enjoyment of playing music of lasting value. This music ignores passing ‘fads’, makes few (if any) concessions to commercial demands, and yet continues as a vital art form.
One of the aims of the Jazz Convention is to encourage and promote jazz in Australia; however this does not mean that conventions are serious affairs. On the contrary, they are happy occasions where many hundreds of people from all over Australia meet to exchange ideas and views, to hear and judge other musicians’ performances, to make new friends and renew old acquaintances.
At the convention people can take in at whatever level of appreciation they please, a feast of virile musical performance by musicians who play for the sheer enjoyment of playing music of lasting value. This music ignores passing ‘fads’, makes few (if any) concessions to commercial demands, and yet continues as a vital art form.
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Australian Jazz Convention Archives
Coordinated by our passionate archivist Margaret Anderson, the AJC Archives are generously housed at the Australian Jazz Museum at Wantirna in Melbourne.
The collection can be viewed by appointment, and if you are willing to volunteer (particularly if you have library/collections archive experience) you would be most welcome to contribute. If you have any donations of Jazz Convention memorabilia, please contact Margaret to discuss what you have and how to deliver it.
Margaret can be contacted by phone on 0418 529 659.