GRAEME BELL

The pianist and composer Graeme Bell, in his habitual black beret, red shirt and black vest, was often called the ''father of Australian jazz'' - elevated no doubt with the passage of time to ''grandfather'' - and was older than the recorded form of the music - if not the live version. Bell, who was born in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Richmond at the beginning of World War I, said his earliest memory was seeing his father hang out flags to mark the end of the war in 1918. Jazz was born in New Orleans at the turn of the 20th century but was first recorded in 1917. It was a while, however, before jazz and Bell were introduced.   Bell was the first of two sons of John Bell, a comedian who worked in light theatre and musicals, and his wife, Elva Rogers, a contralto who had toured Australia as a support read more...