Bob Sedergreen
Encyclopedia
Bob Sedergreen is a renowned Australian jazz
pianist
. Bob has had a long and distinguished career as a performer, bandleader
and educator. He has collaborated with leading Australian artists, such as John Sangster
, Don Burrows
, Brian Brown
and Judy Jacques, and supported some of the biggest names in jazz, including Nat Adderley
, Dizzy Gillespie
and Milt Jackson
.
would finally become Israel
. Bob, together with his mother, and his sisters Joyce and Millie, settled in London and his father followed in 1948. Bob moved to Australia
in November 1951, where he lived on Whitehorse Road and briefly attended Armadale
State School before transferring to Haileybury College, a Presbyterian school for boys.
Bob played with the Fred Bradshaw Quartet (1962–70), Ted Vining Trio (1971–72), Alan Lee's Plant (1973), Brian Brown's Quintet (1974) and Brian Brown's Quartet (1977). In the 1980s, he worked with the Australian Jazz Ensemble, Onaje and Peter Gaudion's Blues Express and the popular Blues on the Boil.
Bob has toured extensively both around Australia and overseas, including Montreal, Malaysia and Europe. He has been advisor to the Montsalvat International Jazz Festival and involved in the introduction of new talent as well as negotiating and supervising the Nat Adderley
Quintet and the McCoy Tyner
Trio.
As an educator, Bob has lectured at the Victorian College of the Arts
and the University of Melbourne
's Faculty of Music. He has also been an artist-in-residence at many Victorian secondary schools.
To play with Bob Sedergreen has been described as the "ultimate armchair ride".
Similar to a "virtual music book", reviewers continue to take his audience through the progression of his life as a pianist, using wit and his fifty years of experience as a jazz performer to entertain.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
. Bob has had a long and distinguished career as a performer, bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
and educator. He has collaborated with leading Australian artists, such as John Sangster
John Sangster
John Sangster was an Australian jazz composer, arranger, drummer, cornettist and Vibraphonist born in Melbourne, most well known as a composer though also a gifted multi-instrumentalist...
, Don Burrows
Don Burrows
Donald Vernon Burrows, AO, MBE is an Australian jazz and swing musician, playing the clarinet, saxophone, and flute....
, Brian Brown
Brian Brown (musician)
Brian Brown OAM, is an Australian Jazz musician and educator. He plays the soprano and tenor saxophones, flutes, synthesizers , panpipes and a leather bowhorn designed by the late Garry Greenwood, .-Biography:Brown has performed as a soloist and with his own ensembles since the mid 1950s throughout...
and Judy Jacques, and supported some of the biggest names in jazz, including Nat Adderley
Nat Adderley
Nathaniel Adderley was an American jazz cornet and trumpet player who played in the hard bop and soul jazz genres. He was the brother of saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley....
, Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
and Milt Jackson
Milt Jackson
Milton "Bags" Jackson was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms...
.
Biography
Sedergreen was born in British Palestine in 1943 to Seamus (James, Jim) Sedergreen, a British Warrant Officer First Class, and Leah Erlichman, a milliner. In 1947, His Majesty's government sent the P&O steam ship Ortranto to evacuate all British families, as the British Mandate was coming to an end and PalestinePalestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
would finally become Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. Bob, together with his mother, and his sisters Joyce and Millie, settled in London and his father followed in 1948. Bob moved to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in November 1951, where he lived on Whitehorse Road and briefly attended Armadale
Armadale
-Places in Australia:*Armadale, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne*Armadale, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth*City of Armadale*Electoral district of Armadale*Armidale, New South Wales -Rail in Australia:...
State School before transferring to Haileybury College, a Presbyterian school for boys.
Bob played with the Fred Bradshaw Quartet (1962–70), Ted Vining Trio (1971–72), Alan Lee's Plant (1973), Brian Brown's Quintet (1974) and Brian Brown's Quartet (1977). In the 1980s, he worked with the Australian Jazz Ensemble, Onaje and Peter Gaudion's Blues Express and the popular Blues on the Boil.
Bob has toured extensively both around Australia and overseas, including Montreal, Malaysia and Europe. He has been advisor to the Montsalvat International Jazz Festival and involved in the introduction of new talent as well as negotiating and supervising the Nat Adderley
Nat Adderley
Nathaniel Adderley was an American jazz cornet and trumpet player who played in the hard bop and soul jazz genres. He was the brother of saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley....
Quintet and the McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.-Early life:...
Trio.
As an educator, Bob has lectured at the Victorian College of the Arts
Victorian College of the Arts
The Faculty of the VCA and Music is a faculty of the University of Melbourne, in Victoria . VCAM is located near the Melbourne central business district, on two campuses, one - the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - on the Parkville campus of the University of Melbourne, and the other - the...
and the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
's Faculty of Music. He has also been an artist-in-residence at many Victorian secondary schools.
To play with Bob Sedergreen has been described as the "ultimate armchair ride".
Recent projects
Sedergreen began hourly sets in Melbourne, Australia, in 2007, where he has taken to narration while performing the music of his life, taking time for comments, while still playing in chronological order to entertain the public in a one man jazz show, called, "Hear Me Talking to Ya". Named after a Nat and Cannonball Adderley tune, and compared to "sitting on a bar stool, hearing a lifetime of jazz stories, Sedergreen's new show has been compared to 'sitting next to Bob on a bar stool hearing a lifetime of jazz stories'.Similar to a "virtual music book", reviewers continue to take his audience through the progression of his life as a pianist, using wit and his fifty years of experience as a jazz performer to entertain.
Awards
- 2008, recipient of the Don Banks Music AwardDon Banks Music AwardThe Don Banks Music Award was established in order to publicly honour a senior artist of high distinction who has made an outstanding and sustained contribution to music in Australia. The award was founded in honour of Don Banks, Australian composer, performer and the first chair of the music board...
, Australia's most valuable individual music prize. - 2006, awarded the Kenneth Myers Medallion for contributions to the arts, the first musician to receive the award.
- 1990, won the Inaugural Jazz Award for Australia's Best Keyboardist.
Discography & bibliography
Sedergreen has recorded twenty solo albums, produced three cassettes, and shared many anecdotes in his autobiography Hear Me Talking to Ya. His recordings include:- For Elvin (Live) - Ted Vining Trio
- Unanimity - Tony Gould and Bob Sedergeen