{{Short description|Annual jazz festival and convention in Australia}} The '''Australian Jazz Convention''' is the longest running annual jazz event in the world.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=The Dictionary of Performing Arts in Australia: Opera, dance, music, Volume 2 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |year=1996 |isbn=9781863738989 |pages=20}}</ref> thumb|Frank Johnson's Dixielanders at 1st Australian Jazz Convention, Melbourne 1946 The idea for the event originated when Abe Monsbourgh was serving in the RAAF in 1944 and wrote to friend Cedric Ian Turner with an idea to run a “jazz convention” once the war had ended. The first Australian Jazz Convention was then held in Melbourne in December 1946, and was attended by musicians from across Australia.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rinaldo |first=Talia |date=2015-12-22 |title=Australian Jazz Convention |url=https://fortemag.com.au/australian-jazz-convention-2/ |access-date=2023-05-18 |website=Forte Magazine |language=en-AU}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Johnson |first=Bruce |title=Jazz Planet |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |year=2012 |isbn=9781628469257 |editor-last=Atkins |editor-first=E. Taylor |pages=151 |chapter=Naturalising the exotic - The Australian Jazz Convention}}</ref> It was preceded by a one-off Sydney Jazz Week in 1919 as one of the earliest jazz events in the world.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Johnson |first=Bruce |title=The Routledge Companion to Jazz Studies |year=2019 |isbn=9781315315782 |chapter=Diasporic Jazz}}</ref>
The programme for the first convention in 1946 was printed as an Angry Penguins Broadsheet.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Johnson |first=Bruce |title=The Oxford companion to Australian jazz |date=1987 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-554791-7 |location=Melbourne New York |pages=36}}</ref> The program contained an introduction from Graeme Bell, an article on Duke Ellington, and articles from international critics.<ref>{{Cite web |date=Dec 1946 |title=Angry Penguins Broadsheet No. 10 (Dec., 1946) |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-320791222/view |access-date=2025-05-04 |website=Trove |language=en}}</ref>
The jazz convention has since been held in different cities and states across Australia each year,<ref name=":0" /> with the 76th edition held in Newcastle in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Duncan |first=Carol |date=2022-12-17 |title=Australian Jazz Convention 1964 |url=https://lostnewcastle.com.au/australian-jazz-convention-1964/ |access-date=2023-05-18 |website=Lost Newcastle |language=en-AU}}</ref>
The archives of the Australian Jazz Convention are held by the Australian Jazz Museum in Victoria.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-10-24 |title=The Collection |url=https://www.ajm.org.au/?page_id=1643 |access-date=2023-05-18 |website=Australian Jazz Museum |language=en-AU}}</ref> Volunteers at the museum have been digitising audio and video recordings of past events.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Anderson |first=Margaret |date=Feb 2020 |title=AUSTRALIAN JAZZ CONVENTION ARCHIVE REPORT 2019 |url=https://www.ajm.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/AJAZZ-85Feb-2020-1.pdf |journal=AJazz |issue=85 |pages=15 |issn=2203-4811}}</ref> The National Film and Sound Archive have also released recordings, including of 1949's convention,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jazz Notes (1949) Fourth Australian Jazz Convention - NFSA |url=https://shop.nfsa.gov.au/jazz-notes-1949-fourth-australian-jazz-convention |access-date=2023-05-18 |website=NFSA Online Shop |language=en}}</ref> and have a video recording of the 1970 convention featuring Graeme Bell.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Osicka |first=Tamara |title=The Father of Australian Jazz - Vale, Graeme Bell |url=https://www.nfsa.gov.au/latest/father-australian-jazz |access-date=18 May 2023 |website=The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia}}</ref>
== List of conventions == {| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" |+ class="nowrap" | Australian Jazz Convention |- ! scope="row" | Year ! scope="col" | City ! scope="col" | Notes / References |- ! scope="row" | 1946 | Melbourne || Recorded and later broadcast by radio<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vol. 9 No. 4 (25 January 1947) |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1323798086/view?sectionId=nla.obj-1373505152&searchTerm=%22Australian+Jazz+Convention%22&partId=nla.obj-1323888370#page/n1/mode/1up/search/%22Australian+Jazz+Convention%22 |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=Trove |language=en}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 1947 | Melbourne || |- ! scope="row" | 1948 | Melbourne || |- ! scope="row" | 1949 | Melbourne || |- ! scope="row" | 1950 | Sydney || Part-broadcast by radio<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 December 1950 |title=Fifth Australian Jazz Convention - ABC Weekly Vol. 12 No. 51 |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1405421344/view?sectionId=nla.obj-1527927766&searchTerm=%22Australian+Jazz+Convention%22&partId=nla.obj-1405595005#page/n18/mode/1up/search/%22Australian+Jazz+Convention%22 |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=Trove |language=en}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 1951 | Adelaide ||Part-broadcast by radio<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vol. 13 No. 51 (22 December 1951) |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1488739772/view?sectionId=nla.obj-1552379219&searchTerm=%22Australian+Jazz+Convention%22&partId=nla.obj-1489022762#page/n29/mode/1up/search/%22Australian+Jazz+Convention%22 |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=Trove |language=en}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 1952 | Melbourne ||Recorded for radio<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vol. 14 No. 52 (27 December 1952) |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1331333271/view?sectionId=nla.obj-1401509568&searchTerm=%22Australian+Jazz+Convention%22&partId=nla.obj-1331517356#page/n16/mode/1up/search/%22Australian+Jazz+Convention%22 |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=Trove |language=en}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 1953 | Hobart || |- ! scope="row" | 1954 | Sydney ||Recorded for radio<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vol. 17 No. 1 (1 January 1955) |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1623284915/view?sectionId=nla.obj-1698259292&searchTerm=%22Australian+Jazz+Convention%22&partId=nla.obj-1623358469#page/n24/mode/1up/search/%22Australian+Jazz+Convention%22 |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=Trove |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Vol. 16 No. 52 (25 December 1954) |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1590250912/view?sectionId=nla.obj-1697939213&searchTerm=%22Australian+Jazz+Convention%22&partId=nla.obj-1590360770#page/n24/mode/1up/search/%22Australian+Jazz+Convention%22 |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=Trove |language=en}}</ref> Excerpts released on record.<ref>{{Citation |title=Various - Jazz In Australia Vol.1 - Convention '54 |date=1955 |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/10458321-Various-Jazz-In-Australia-Vol1-Convention-54 |access-date=2025-05-04 |language=en}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 1955 | Cootamundra (NSW) || |- ! scope="row" | 1956 | Melbourne || |- ! scope="row" | 1957 | Adelaide ||Recorded for radio<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vol. 19 No. 52 (25 December 1957) |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1286678079/view?sectionId=nla.obj-1337370879&searchTerm=%22Australian+Jazz+Convention%22&partId=nla.obj-1286771697#page/n29/mode/1up/search/%22Australian+Jazz+Convention%22 |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=Trove |language=en}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 1958 | Sydney ||Recorded for TV<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vol. 20 No. 52 (24 December 1958) |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1390389563/view?sectionId=nla.obj-1449977727&searchTerm=%22Australian+Jazz+Convention%22&partId=nla.obj-1390495095#page/n36/mode/1up/search/%22Australian+Jazz+Convention%22 |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=Trove |language=en}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 1959 | Cootamundra || |- ! scope="row" | 1960 | Melbourne || |- ! scope="row" | 1961 | Adelaide || |- ! scope="row" | 1962 | Sydney || |- ! scope="row" | 1963 | Melbourne || |- ! scope="row" | 1964 | Newcastle (NSW) || |- ! scope="row" | 1965 | Sydney || |- ! scope="row" | 1966 | Melbourne || |- ! scope="row" | 1967 | Hobart || |- ! scope="row" | 1968 | Adelaide || |- ! scope="row" | 1969 | Ballarat (VIC) || |- ! scope="row" | 1970 | Dubbo (NSW) || |- ! scope="row" | 1971 | Hobart || |- ! scope="row" | 1972 | Adelaide || |- ! scope="row" | 1973 | Queanbeyan (NSW) || |- ! scope="row" | 1974 | Melbourne || |- ! scope="row" | 1975 | Balmain / Sydney (NSW) || |- ! scope="row" | 1976 | Brisbane || |- ! scope="row" | 1977 | Adelaide || |- ! scope="row" | 1979 | Freemantle || |- ! scope="row" | 1980 | Forbes (NSW) || |- ! scope="row" | 1981 | Geelong (VIC) || |- ! scope="row" | 1982 | Toowoomba (QLD) || |- ! scope="row" | 1983 | Forbes || |- ! scope="row" | 1984 | Woollongong (NSW) || |- ! scope="row" | 1985 | Ballarat || |- ! scope="row" | 1986 | Adelaide || |- ! scope="row" | 1987 | Armidale (NSW) || |- ! scope="row" | 1988 | Sydney || |- ! scope="row" | 1989 | Perth || |- ! scope="row" | 1990 | Launceston (TAS) || |- ! scope="row" | 1991 | Newcastle || |- ! scope="row" | 1992 | Geelong || |- ! scope="row" | 1993 | Adelaide || |- ! scope="row" | 1994 | Gold Coast || |- ! scope="row" | 1995 | Melbourne ||<ref>{{Cite news |date=1995-06-22 |title=50th convention returns to the source |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/127532308?searchTerm=%22Australian%20Jazz%20Convention%22 |access-date=2025-02-19 |work=Canberra Times}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 1996 | Bathurst (NSW) || |- ! scope="row" | 1997 | Launceston || |- ! scope="row" | 1998 | Geelong || |- ! scope="row" | 1999 | Perth || |- ! scope="row" | 2000 | Forbes || |- ! scope="row" | 2001 | Adelaide || |- ! scope="row" | 2002 | Launceston || |- ! scope="row" | 2003 | Forbes || |- ! scope="row" | 2004 | Stawell (VIC) || |- ! scope="row" | 2005 | '''No Convention''' || |- ! scope="row" | 2006 | Lismore (NSW) || |- ! scope="row" | 2007 | Adelaide || |- ! scope="row" | 2008 | Goulburn (NSW) || |- ! scope="row" | 2009 | Melbourne || |- ! scope="row" | 2010 | Orange (NSW) || |- ! scope="row" | 2011 | Bundaberg (QLD) || |- ! scope="row" | 2012 | Forbes || |- ! scope="row" | 2013 | Goulburn || |- ! scope="row" | 2014 | Swan Hill (VIC) || |- ! scope="row" | 2015 | Ballarat || |- ! scope="row" | 2016 | Ballarat || |- ! scope="row" | 2017 | Ballarat || |- ! scope="row" | 2018 | Ballarat || |- ! scope="row" | 2019 | Albury (NSW) || |- ! scope="row" | 2020 | '''No Convention''' || |- ! scope="row" | 2021 | Albury || |- ! scope="row" | 2022 | Newcastle || |- ! scope="row" | 2023 | Longford (VIC) || |- ! scope="row" | 2024 | Mildura (VIC) || |- ! scope="row" | 2025 | Mildura || |} == References == {{Reflist}}{{Commons category}} ==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20240920154904/https://australianjazzconvention.org.au/originaltunes/ List of conventions] (Archived) * [https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-320791222/view Program for 1st Australian Jazz Convention] Category:Jazz festivals in Australia Category:1946 establishments in Australia Category:Music festivals established in 1946