Career

A self taught musician, Bertles began his performing career in 1956. In the late 1950s and early 60s Bertles was a member of the developing modern jazz scene that grew out of venues like the Mocambo in Newtown

Newtown, New South Wales

Newtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west is located approximately four kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, straddling the local government areas of the City of Sydney and Marrickville Council in the state of New South Wales, Australia....

 and the El Rocco Jazz Cellar in Sydney's Kings Cross

Kings Cross, New South Wales

Kings Cross is an inner-city locality of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately 2 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney...

.

Active in clubs, on TV, as a session musician and on the pop-rock scene, he toured with Johnny O'Keefe

Johnny O'Keefe

John Michael O'Keefe, known as Johnny O'Keefe was an Australian rock and roll singer whose career began in the 1950s. Some of his hits include "Wild One" , "Shout!" and "She's My Baby"...

 and The Dee Jays between 1958 and 1963. Bertles led a quartet with Keith Barr

Keith Barr

Keith Barr is a former inter-county Gaelic footballer for Dublin. He played his club football with Erins Isle.-Sporting career:Barr made his inter county championship debut against Wicklow in 1989. Keith was on the 1995 All-Ireland winning team when Dublin narrowly defeated Tyrone...

 and Brian Fagen and Barry Woods, which played at Melbourne's equivalent of Sydney's El Rocco, the Fat Black Pussycat in Toorak

Toorak, Victoria

Toorak is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district located on a rise on the south side of a bend in the Yarra River. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stonnington...

.

In 1967 Bertles temporarily joined Sydney-based rock-soul band Max Merritt & The Meteors

Max Merritt

Max Merritt is a New Zealand-born singer-songwriter and guitarist who is renowned as an interpreter of soul music and R&B...

 and was soon invited to become a permanent member. Only weeks after joining, Bertles, Merritt and drummer Stewie Speer

Stewie Speer

Stewie Speer was an Australian jazz and rock drummer who is best known as a member of the 1960s-70s Australian group Max Merritt & The Meteors....

 narrowly escaped death after their van collided head-on with a truck on the way to a country dance; all three were seriously injured and Bertles was left with a permanent limp. During his five-year stint with the Meteors he relocated to London in 1969 and was involved in sessions for Cliff Richard

Cliff Richard

Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....

, Cilla Black

Cilla Black

Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...

 and Alan Price

Alan Price

Alan Price is an English musician, best known as the original keyboardist for the English band The Animals, and for his subsequent solo work....

. In 1974, after the group split, Bertles joined Ian Carr

Ian Carr

Ian Carr was a Scottish jazz musician, composer, writer, and educator.-Early years:Carr was born in Dumfries, Scotland, the elder brother of Mike Carr...

's Nucleus

Nucleus (band)

Nucleus were a pioneering jazz-rock band from Britain who continued in different forms from 1969 to 1989. In their first year they won first prize at the Montreux Jazz Festival, released the album Elastic Rock, and performed both at the Newport Jazz Festival and the Village Gate jazz club.They were...

.

In more recent years Bertles has toured Europe extensively, joined the orchestra for the Australian production of the stage musical Chicago, where he met his future wife, and has toured the USA and Australia with the Australian Jazz Orchestra.

In addition to regular concerts, festivals, session work, and touring, Bertles' recent projects include recording and live performances with Sydney's renowned Ten Part Invention  (who toured internationally in late 2004), and two new CDs from his own group The Bob Bertles Quintet. His most recent recording with the Quartet, Moonlight Saving Time, is a collaboration with vocalist Toni Lamond

Toni Lamond

Toni Lamond AM is an Australian cabaret singer, stage actor, dancer and comedienne...

. When not touring, Bertles presents a regular program on Sydney jazz station Eastside Radio.

External links

• Ten Part Invention Official website