Dizzy’s Jazz Bar at Footscray, Melbourne, is a converted church where a new breed of faithful now flock to worship the art of jazz.

A couple of days in Melbourne was to be a jumping off point for a trip to the UK and Europe. Whenever I go abroad to visit the relos and friends I always try to make it a musical trip too. By first checking out the various websites then making a few phone calls, it’s not too difficult to organise a musical journey combining social and musical delights.

Melbourne has a very healthy music scene and I was determined to start the trip off by dipping into whatever I could. However I must confess the long drive down the Alpine Way from Jindabyne left me physically capable of no more than a couple of beers and a good lie down on the first night.

The following evening we arrived at Dizzy’s fully refreshed, bright eyed and bushy-tailed, around 7pm to ensure a seat for a very promising evening of jazz. It seems Saturday at Dizzy’s is also a jam session (5.30 – 8pm) and so we caught the tail end of the young lions of Melbourne’s jazz scene ripping up some funky sounds.

A couple of glasses of fine red later the main course was served up in the form of the ‘Julie O’Hara Quintet’. Julie, a charismatic vocalist with a penchant for scat vocalise of a high degree of difficulty, was surrounded by some of Melbourne’s best musical names including the iconic Bob Sedergreen on piano.

The young tenor player, whose name escapes me unfortunately, delivered some of the most musical solos I have ever heard. Although young himself, the instrument he played was a hand crafted Selmer balanced action from the 1940s and had lost all of its shine and looked like it was made from a piece of stone.
Some sax players say that the gold lacquer coating on saxophones dulls the tone and they actually scrap the shine off to improve the sound. Perhaps they are right.

Sunday morning we ventured into the city centre and it was jumping with Christmas shoppers and music. A Spanish guitar trio plus a percussionist going by the name of Santos had attracted a large crowd outside Myers.

I moved in to get a good listen and ended up spending an hour or so enjoying some fine Spanish guitar and buying one of their CDs which I have since played at several dinner parties in London much to the delight of the assembled musicians which I think says it all.

Being the Sunday prior to Christmas, the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir of some 130 members plus orchestra and four soloists presented Handel’s Messiah at the Town Hall. I was thrilled to see my old colleague, David Hamilton, from the then Australian Opera (it’s now Opera Australia – why the name change I don’t know but it’s probably got something to do with search engines). David was taking the solo tenor role.

We caught up after the concert for a chat and it seems that he is busier than ever and listening to his fine singing voice, I am not surprised.
Sunday being our last night in Melbourne and desperate to pack in as much music as possible, we joined a 25m queue in the hope of getting into Melbourne’s mecca of jazz, Bennetts Lane. “Have you booked?” said the couple ahead of us.
Unfortunately I hadn’t and so we returned to the hotel and watched Opera Australia’s televised version of The Pirates of Penzance and Trial by Jury. Excellent!

The next evening it was off to London.
Just a word before closing, if you ever go to Melbourne looking for music you will be well rewarded but you will need more than three nights. Music goes on every night and some venues to check are Manchester Lane, Bennetts Lane and Dizzy’s Jazz Bar.

Next month… the London scene.

Paul Dion