The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of indigenous and Western styles are exemplified in the works of Yothu Yindi, No Fixed Address, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu and Christine Anu, and mark distinctly Australian contributions to world music.
Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, and Quincy Jones. In 1992, he was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, and he was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1996.
Jazz music has a long history in Australia. Over the years jazz has held a high-profile at local clubs, festivals and other music venues and a vast number of recordings have been produced by Australian jazz musicians, many of whom have gone on to gain a high profile in the international jazz arena.
Joseph Salvatore Lovano is an American jazz saxophonist, alto clarinetist, flautist, and drummer. He has earned a Grammy Award and several mentions on Down Beat magazine's critics' and readers' polls. His wife, with whom he records and performs, is singer Judi Silvano. Lovano was a longtime member of drummer Paul Motian‘s trio with guitarist Bill Frisell.
Katie Anne Noonan is an Australian singer-songwriter. In addition to a successful solo career encompassing opera, jazz, pop, rock and dance, she was the singer in the band George and remains the singer in the band Elixir; performs with her mother Maggie Noonan; and plays with her band The Captains. Noonan was the musical director of and performed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games' opening and closing ceremonies.
Wollongong Conservatorium of Music is a centre for music education, community music-making and performance, serving the city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.
Lionel Loueke is a guitarist and vocalist born in Benin. He moved to Ivory Coast in 1990 to study at the National Institute of Art.
The Melbourne International Jazz Festival is an annual jazz music festival first held in Melbourne, Australia in 1998. The Festival takes place in concert halls, arts venues, jazz clubs and throughout the streets of Melbourne.
Mark Guiliana is a Grammy-nominated American drummer, composer and leader of the band Beat Music. He is known for his playing with Avishai Cohen, Brad Mehldau, David Bowie, Meshell Ndegeocello, Gretchen Parlato, Jason Lindner, Lionel Loueke, Dhafer Youssef, Tigran Hamasyan, Matisyahu, St. Vincent, the European piano trio Phronesis and his own groups, Heernt and the Mark Giuliana Jazz Quartet.
Kendrick Scott is an American jazz drummer, bandleader, and composer. He is the founder of the record label World Culture Music.
The Melbourne Jazz Fringe Festival is an annual international jazz festival held in Melbourne, Australia in April or May. The festival was formed in 2005 to celebrate Melbourne’s burgeoning creative jazz scene. Building on the unprecedented success of the 2005, 2006, and 2007 festivals, the festival returns again in 2008 to deliver eleven days and nights of original music featuring Melbourne’s most celebrated improvisers plus interstate guests.
The Malta Jazz Festival is an annual musical event held every July in Malta, organised by Festivals Malta. It is held outside Our Lady of Liesse Church, on the Valletta waterfront.
Meeco is an internationally acclaimed music producer and composer who has worked and recorded with a great range of well-known artist from various genres, including jazz, hip-hop, soul and latin. He is known for moving effortlessly between different styles of music, blending jazz improvisations with hip-hop and soul.
Shannon Barnett is an Australian trombonist and composer who was named Young Australian Jazz Artist of the Year at the 2007 Australian Jazz Bell Awards.
Kavita Shah is a vocalist and composer from New York, NY. She has been hailed by NPR for possessing an “amazing dexterity with musical languages”.
Aziza is a studio album by English jazz bassist Dave Holland with saxophonist Chris Potter, guitarist Lionel Loueke and drummer Eric Harland. The album was released on October 14, 2016 via Holland's own Dare2 Records label.
The Vampires are an Australian world-roots jazz group formed by saxophonist Jeremy Rose, trumpeter Nick Garbett, drummer Alex Masso and bassist Mike Majkowski in 2005. The band formed in their final year of studying for their Bachelor of Music at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. The band has released six albums and toured extensively around Australia, Germany, the UK, Czech Republic, Austria and Italy. The band performs mostly original music by Jeremy Rose and Nick Garbett that draws inspiration from their travels around the world and experiences in life. The band has performed at every major jazz festival in Australia, the Love Supreme Festival (UK), Glasgow Jazz Festival, Edingburgh Jazz Festival, Jazzahead Festival, and the Enjoy Jazz Festival.
Phil Slater is an Australian jazz trumpeter and composer based in the Illawarra region.
Keyna Wilkins is an Australian/British composer-musician. Her compositions are published and distributed by Wirripang Music.
Vazesh is an Australian improvising jazz trio made up of Hamed Sadeghi, Jeremy Rose and Lloyd Swanton. Their album, The Sacred Key, was nominated for the 2021 ARIA Music Award for Best Jazz Album.
