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JOHN SANGSTER
Born - November 17 1928, Melbourne Career: Trumpet / Vibes / Drummer / Composer / Arranger
/ Leader Worked with: The Jazz Six / Ross Fusedale / Ade Monsbourgh's
Late Hour Boys / Kelly Smith's trio / Bell band 1950 / Humphrey Lyttleton /
Graeme Bell / Ray Price / Don Burrows / Bob Gebert / Ron Carson / Tully /
Nutwood Rug Band / Dave MacRae / Graeme Lyall / George Thompson / Alan
Turnbull / Col Nolan / Don Burrows / Keith Stirling / Freddie Payne Born
on the 17th November, 1928, John Grant Sangster was a central and charismatic
figure in Australian jazz, and one whose interests and influence extended
well beyond the confines of the jazz scene. An
accomplished and highly innovative performer, he started out playing
traditional jazz with Graeme Bell and his Australian Jazz Band on trombone,
later taking up the cornet, and then drums. He toured several times with Bell
between 1950 and 1955, playing in Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany,
Japan and Korea. While in London he appeared in two Royal Command
Performances, and recorded his first composition while playing on the famous Humphrey
Lyttleton/Graeme Bell recordings. John
continued to play with Bell on his return to Brisbane, and became part owner
of the Celebrity Club with him for a brief period. In the late 1950s he began
playing the vibraphone, which he found "combined the percussive
qualities of the drums with the melodic capability of the trumpet"
(Bisset, 1979). He also played other percussion instruments, including many
of his own invention. After leaving Graeme Bell's band, John played with
another traditional jazz group, the Ray Price Quartet, before moving away
from traditional towards modern jazz. He joined the Don Burrows Group, with
whom he was to record several compositions. In
the 1960s John was a regular at the El Rocco, the now-legendary Sydney venue
for modern and experimental jazz at that time. He formed his own quartet and
with them experimented with group improvisatory jazz, after he became
interested in the music of such American jazz musicians as Sun Ra and Archie
Shepp. He rejoined the Don Burrows Group briefly in 1967 when they
represented Australia at Expo 1967 in Montreal, Canada. In
order to learn rock drumming, John took jobs playing at Whisky A Go-Go and in
the musical HAIR, where he came in contact with the Australian rock group Tully. He performed and recorded with Tully
throughout the two years he played in Hair and in 1970 joined the
Burrows Group once again, this time for Expo 1970 in Osaka, Japan. John
Sangster always encouraged Australian musicians to compose and perform their
own music and although he did not begin to compose in earnest until in his
late thirties, he was one of the most prolific jazz composers in Australia.
His compositions include several inspired by the works of J.R.R. Tolkien,
including The Hobbit Suite (1973), Lord of the Rings (in three
volumes - 1974, 1976 and 1977), Bilbo Nods Off (1977) and Landscapes
of Middle Earth (1978). Another
productive area of John's career was the composition of music for television
documentaries, radio, and feature films. These have included scores for Peach's
Australia, Harry Butler in the Wild, Dingo King, The
Funky Phantom and The Gentlemen of Titipu, the latter two being
animated feature films for US television. He also wrote the music for a
series of environmental films produced in 1971-2 by the Australian Museum, a
project that was in accord with his own interest in and concern for the
Australian environment. The music for these films was recorded by some of
Australia's best jazz musicians and the recording was released by Cherry Pie
under the title Australia and All That Jazz. This was followed by Australia
and All That Jazz, Vol.2 in 1976. John
died in Brisbane on 26th October, 1995, at the age of 66. Source:
Australian Music Centre |
