A few weeks ago I was in Leederville [inner-city suburb of Perth] and heard the sound of a tenor saxophone across the car park. Curious to see who the player was I made my way to a new venue called the Niche Bar.
It turned out to be the Carl Mackey Trio with Matt Willis [bs] and Daniel Susjnar [drms] and also guesting was Jamie Oehlers – two tenors with double bass and drums and no chordal instrument.
Perth-born Oehlers was catching up with his family and friends en route from Europe to Melbourne having played there as part of the prize for winning last year’s White Foundation World Saxophone Competition at Montreux Jazz Festival.
It was the end of the late afternoon/early evening gig and the quartet played Coltrane’s Giant Steps – simply awesome playing. I reflected how far jazz in WA [and in fact in Australia] has come over the last 20 years.
In 1983 my wife and I left Sydney for Perth, disillusioned with the cost of living in Sydney. Despite asking several leading Sydney musicians I knew very little about jazz in the West. Perth in 1983 possessed a vibrant jazz scene. The Perth Jazz Society had been presenting weekly Monday night concerts at the Hyde Park Hotel, North Perth for several years and had recently received regular annual funding from the Australia Council to present interstate artists [in late 1983 this included the Ted Vining Trio and over the next couple of years Bernie McGann Trio, Alan Lee and Jex Saarelaht, Onaje, Women and Children First and Brian Brown and Tony Gould all performed for PJS]. Apart from the PJS there were several regular gigs in pubs around the metro area presenting modern jazz.
1983 saw the inauguration of two other innovations that have continued to impact and enhance jazz in WA. The WA Youth Jazz Orchestra was formed providing a vehicle for young players to learn to play in the big band idiom and allowing the better players to solo. WAYJO’s founding musical director was trumpeter/arranger Pat Crichton who had moved to Perth from Sydney in the late 1970s having recorded and toured with the Daly Wilson Big Band.
The other innovation was the creation of the state jazz co-ordination program – an initiative of the Australia Council. WA’s first jazz co-ordinator was Englishman Adrian Kenyon. A journalist and owner of a music magazine Kenyon reviewed the big band from music specialist high school Churchlands SHS and noted the potential talent of saxophonist John Mackey. He followed up by contacting father Ron that led to a long term relationship of the Mackey family with WAYJO. Ron was on the WAYJO committee for over a decade and for much of that time was president.
In 1984 again under the leadership of Pat Crichton a tertiary jazz program commenced at [what was to be later called] Edith Cowan University. It is my opinion that there are some major advantages with cities the size of Perth – the cream comes to the surface quicker meaning for jazz that players of a similar age and interest from across a not so large metro area meet up and interact and inspire one another. With only 10% of the nation’s population WA has over the last two decades an amazing record for producing young jazz musicians of a high calibre.
Ron Mackey is not a musician but a very avid jazz listener and so the Mackey household was full of the sounds of recordings by Ben Webster,
John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins. From an early age John and Carl were woken each morning to their dad’s record collection. Many of their friends were also exposed to this music and went on to contribute to jazz at a state/national and international level.
John [b.1969] entered the jazz program as it evolved to a four year degree. He became the first jazz student to graduate with a High Distinction. Importantly he set the bench mark for future jazz students in WA.
Today John Mackey is Head of the Jazz Program in Canberra and Carl Mackey [b 1971] continues to play and work as a part-time tutor at ECU.
Amongst those who are indebted to the passion for jazz of the Mackey family are Jamie Oehlers, Jordan Murray [trombonist now living in Melbourne], Chris Greive [trombonist/arranger with the Scottish Jazz Orchestra], Chris Tarr [drummer and lecturer in jazz at ECU] and Graham Wood [pianist/composer and lecturer in jazz at ECU].
As father Ron noted this period in Perth in the 1980s was the right seed dropping on the right ground at the right time.
It is testimony to the now universality of jazz that the world’s most isolated capital city continues to contribute so much to the artform.
Thanks Ron for sharing your passion for jazz
Garry Lee
26th October 2004
Garry Lee is a vibraphonist/guitarist/composer who has contributed articles on jazz in WA and Australia to Jazz Journal International [Britain] and Jazz Educators Journal [US]. He regularly reviews jazz concerts and CDs for the West Australian newspaper. Garry’s CDs have received excellent reviews in international publications and he is profiled in the artists section of this site and on the WA web site.
