Jack Mitchell (jazz historian)

Last updated
Jack Mitchell
OAM
Born
Francis John Mitchell

29 May 1926
Randwick, New South Wales, Australia
Died11 March 2021(2021-03-11) (aged 94)
Lithgow, New South Wales
Occupation(s)jazz historian, discographer

Francis John "Jack" Mitchell OAM (29 May 1926-11 March 2021) was an Australian jazz historian and discographer.

Contents

Life

Jack Mitchell was born in Sydney in 1926. His first job was an assistant cinema projectionist, before he entered university in 1948 to become a dentist. [1] After becoming a member of the Sydney Swing Music Club in 1944, Mitchell began reading Australian jazz journal Jazz Notes, and became interested in jazz history and discographies. [1]

He contributed jazz discography articles to journals such as Jazz Notes, before he published Australian Discography in 1950, a 16 page handbook published by Australian Jazz Quarterly. [1] A second edition was self-published in 1960, and a third edition was being prepared in the 1970s. This had begun being serialised over seven issues in the magazine Music Maker, before that title closed in 1970. [2] The project was finally published as the book Australian Jazz on Record 1925–80, published by the National Film and Sound Archive in 1988, [1] with further volumes published in 1998 and 2002. [3] Corrections for his books were published in the journal Matrix, where Mitchell published a column also listing new releases in Australian jazz. [2] He also contributed to Australian Jazz and Record Review, Jazz, Jazz Journal , Storyville , the Sydney Jazz Club's Quarterly Rag, the Victorian Jazz Club's Jazzline, and the Australian Jazz Museum's AJazz. [4]

In 2011, his entire discography project was collected as a CD-ROM titled Australian Jazz on Record 1923–2010, [5] and it continued to receive updates up to his death. [4] Mitchell also contributed the discography for Graeme Bell's autobiography in 1988. [6] The two had met during the 1960s, and Bell provided the forward to Mitchell's Australian Jazz on Record 1925–80. [7]

Outside of his discography work, Mitchell wrote other books documenting jazz history, such as Coggy a biography on Australian trombonist and bandleader Frank Coughlan, [8] BlisteredHeels : Jazz and hot dance music in Australia in the twenties, [9] and Happy Feet on Australian popular music in the 1930s. [5] He also assisted the Australian Jazz Museum with their research and contributed songs from his collection to some of their Australian jazz compilation albums, [10] [11] and presented a program Jazz Cabaret on Lithgow Community Radio EZY-FM 90.5 between 2004-2019. [4] [12]

In 2019, Mitchell received an Order of Australia award for service to jazz music. [8] [13]

Following his death in 2021, [4] Jack Mitchell's collection was left to the Australian Jazz Museum. [14]

Bibliography

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Simpson-Bull, Ken (May 2015). "Jack Mitchell: Jazz Historian and Discographer" (PDF). VJazz (66): 4–5.
  2. 1 2 Beilby, Roger (November 1975). "Jack Mitchell: Australian Discographer" (PDF). Jazz Down Under. 2 (2): 18–19.
  3. ↑ Henry, Clarence Bernard (2021-06-21). Global Jazz. New York: Routledge. pp. 322–323. ISBN   978-1-003-15496-9.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Haesler, Bill (May 2021). "Jack Mitchell 1926 - 2021" (PDF). AJazz (89): 13.
  5. 1 2 Myers, Eric (22 November 2019). "Jazz doyen's happy feat". The Australian.
  6. ↑ Bell, Graeme (1988). Graeme Bell, Australian jazzman : his autobiography, with discography. Child & Associates. ISBN   0867771712.
  7. ↑ Mitchell, Jack (1988). Australian Jazz on Record 1925–80. National Film and Sound Archive. ISBN   9-780-64406-071-4.
  8. 1 2 "Jack Mitchell receives OAM for work on the Australian jazz scene". www.lithgowmercury.com.au. 2019-02-07. Retrieved 2025-07-30.
  9. ↑ Dellow, Nick (2016). "BLISTERED HEELS – JAZZ AND HOT DANCE MUSIC IN AUSTRALIA IN THE TWENTIES by Jack Mitchell" (PDF). Vintage Jazz Mart (176).
  10. ↑ Simpson-Bull, Ken (November 2017). "News from the Australian Jazz Museum" (PDF). Studfield Wantirna Community News (50). Studfield Wantirna Community News Inc.: 19.
  11. ↑ Easdown, Rod (2019-05-02). "Restoring Australian jazz of the 1930s". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
  12. ↑ "It's been a long haul towards taking a place on the airwaves". Lithgow Mercury. 2014-12-10. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
  13. ↑ "MEDAL (OAM) OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA IN THE GENERAL DIVISION" (PDF). The Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General. 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  14. ↑ "2023 CHG FINAL PROJECT REPORTS: Collection Management and Conservation Activities" (PDF). Community H eritage G rants. 2023. p. 40. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
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