Bruce Clarke (jazz musician)
Encyclopedia
Bruce Clarke, OAM
(1 December 1925 – 24 July 2008) was an Australian jazz
guitarist
, composer
and educator. He lived in Melbourne
.
In 1956, television arrived in Australia and brought this era to a close. Bruce moved into film and television music production and composition. He established his own studios
and production company The Jingle Workshop in 1957. He wrote and directed over 3000 television and film soundtrack
s for local and overseas producers between 1957 and 1974, some including vocalist Helen Reddy
. As well as guitar he made extensive use of electronics, including the Moog synthesizer
.
During this period he continued to perform. He accepted a commission to realise the first major Australian electronic work for the 1968 Adelaide Arts Festival
, and conducted performances in Melbourne of works by 20th century composers Stockhausen
, Berio
and Webern
. He toured Europe as guitarist with composer Felix Werder
's Australia Felix Ensemble. He also appeared with the ABC
orchestras under the batons of Sir John Barbirolli, Charles Mackerras
, John Hopkins
and others. In 1981 he played second guitar to John Williams
with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
in Andre Previn
's "Concerto For Guitar And Orchestra".
In 1974 Bruce moved into the realm of teaching. Phasing out his commercial activities he accepted a position on the music board of the Australia Council
and became Kenneth Myer Music Fellow to the Victoria Institute of Colleges - two positions which made him very aware of the need for more realistic approaches to the problems of students wishing to find a role in the world of "non-classical" music. With this in mind, in 1977 he instigated the Jazz Studies program at the Victorian College of the Arts
, followed by the establishment of his "Guitar Workshop". In subsequent years he hosted many teaching clinics with visiting "guitar greats" including Joe Pass
, Ike Isaacs
, Ted Dunbar
, Barney Kessel
, Herb Ellis
, Charlie Byrd
, Martin Taylor, Emily Remler
, and George Golla
.
During the late seventies Bruce taught guitar using the Berklee method books and his own pre-recorded cassette tapes.
His technique emphasised tone and quality of the guitar.
His past guitar students include Mick Harvey
, Robert Goodge (of I'm Talking
), Pierre Jaquinot, Anne McCue
, Doug de Vries, Dominic Kiernan (various accompanying work), and Andrew Pendlebury (of The Sports
).
Clarke also founded Cumquat Records to issue recordings of Australian Jazz from the 1950s onwards. From his catalogue of recorded works the author quoted his collaboration with George Golla
on "In Memory Of Charlie Christian
" (aka "Soft Winds" CQCD-2712) as his favorite.
Bruce Clarke worked with Frank Sinatra
and recorded with him on his tour of Australia, and also worked with Mel Torme
, Dizzy Gillespie
, Stephane Grappelli
, Stan Getz
, and Legendary Guitarist John Collins
(by whom he was greatly influenced), amongst many other world class musicians.
He died on Thursday 24 July 2008.
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(1 December 1925 – 24 July 2008) was an Australian jazz
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...
guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and educator. He lived in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
.
Biography
From 1949-1956 Clarke worked as a freelance guitarist-arranger among the many live radio orchestras. He accompanied overseas artists on their Australian concert tours and played in the dance halls and ballrooms that were the mainstay of pre-television social life.In 1956, television arrived in Australia and brought this era to a close. Bruce moved into film and television music production and composition. He established his own studios
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
and production company The Jingle Workshop in 1957. He wrote and directed over 3000 television and film soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
s for local and overseas producers between 1957 and 1974, some including vocalist Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy , often referred to as "The Queen of 70s Pop", is an Australian-American singer and actress. In the 1970s, she enjoyed international success, especially in the United States, where she placed fifteen singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Six of those 15 songs made the Top 10...
. As well as guitar he made extensive use of electronics, including the Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
.
During this period he continued to perform. He accepted a commission to realise the first major Australian electronic work for the 1968 Adelaide Arts Festival
Adelaide Festival of Arts
The Adelaide Festival of Arts is an arts festival held biennially in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Although locally considered to be one of the world's greatest celebrations of the arts, that is internationally renowned and the pre-eminent cultural event in Australia, it is actually...
, and conducted performances in Melbourne of works by 20th century composers Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...
, Berio
Luciano Berio
Luciano Berio, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian composer. He is noted for his experimental work and also for his pioneering work in electronic music.-Biography:Berio was born at Oneglia Luciano Berio, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI (October 24, 1925 – May 27, 2003) was an Italian...
and Webern
Anton Webern
Anton Webern was an Austrian composer and conductor. He was a member of the Second Viennese School. As a student and significant follower of Arnold Schoenberg, he became one of the best-known exponents of the twelve-tone technique; in addition, his innovations regarding schematic organization of...
. He toured Europe as guitarist with composer Felix Werder
Felix Werder
Felix Werder is an Australian-based German composer of classical and electronic music; also a noted critic and educator. The son of a distinguished liturgical composer, he has composed all his life; he has an international reputation and is one of Australia's most performed composers...
's Australia Felix Ensemble. He also appeared with the ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
orchestras under the batons of Sir John Barbirolli, Charles Mackerras
Charles Mackerras
Sir Alan Charles Maclaurin Mackerras, AC, CH, CBE was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan...
, John Hopkins
John Hopkins (conductor)
John Hopkins OBE is a Yorkshire-born, British conductor and administrator. Hopkins moved to New Zealand in 1957 and to Australia in 1963. He conducted the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in 1987 in one of New Zealand's first Orchestral Composers' Reading Workshops...
and others. In 1981 he played second guitar to John Williams
John Williams (guitarist)
John Christopher Williams is an Australian classical guitarist, and a long-term resident of the United Kingdom. In 1973, he shared a Grammy Award win in the 'Best Chamber Music Performance' category with Julian Bream for Julian and John .-Biography:John Williams was born on 24 April 1941 in...
with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Melbourne, Australia. It has 100 permanent musicians. Melbourne has the longest continuous history of orchestral music of any Australian city and the MSO is the oldest professional orchestra in Australia...
in Andre Previn
André Previn
André George Previn, KBE is an American pianist, conductor, and composer. He is considered one of the most versatile musicians in the world, and is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings. -Early Life:Previn was born in...
's "Concerto For Guitar And Orchestra".
In 1974 Bruce moved into the realm of teaching. Phasing out his commercial activities he accepted a position on the music board of the Australia Council
Australia Council
The Australia Council, informally known as the Australia Council for the Arts, is the official arts council or arts funding body of the Government of Australia.-Function:...
and became Kenneth Myer Music Fellow to the Victoria Institute of Colleges - two positions which made him very aware of the need for more realistic approaches to the problems of students wishing to find a role in the world of "non-classical" music. With this in mind, in 1977 he instigated the Jazz Studies program 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...
, followed by the establishment of his "Guitar Workshop". In subsequent years he hosted many teaching clinics with visiting "guitar greats" including Joe Pass
Joe Pass
Joe Pass was an Italian-American jazz guitarist of Sicilian descent. He is generally considered to be one of the greatest jazz guitarists of the 20th century...
, Ike Isaacs
Ike Isaacs
Ike Isaacs may refer to:* Ike Isaacs , Burmese-British jazz guitarist* Ike Isaacs , American jazz bassist...
, Ted Dunbar
Ted Dunbar
Ted Dunbar was a jazz guitarist, composer, and educator. He published four volumes on jazz. He trained as a pharmacist at Texas Southern University, but by the 1970s only did pharmacy work part-time. He was also a trained numerologist and had studied other aspects of mysticism...
, Barney Kessel
Barney Kessel
Barney Kessel was an American jazz guitarist born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA. Generally considered to be one of the greatest jazz guitarists of the 20th century, he was noted in particular for his vast knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies...
, Herb Ellis
Herb Ellis
Mitchell Herbert "Herb" Ellis was an American jazz guitarist. Perhaps best known for his 1950s membership in the trio of pianist Oscar Peterson, Ellis was also a staple of west-coast studio recording sessions, and was described by critic Scott Yanow as "an excellent bop-based guitarist with a...
, Charlie Byrd
Charlie Byrd
Charlie Lee Byrd was a famous and versatile American guitarist born in Suffolk, Virginia. His earliest and strongest musical influence was Django Reinhardt, the famous gypsy guitarist. Byrd became the American guitarist who best understood and played Brazilian music, especially the Bossa Nova genre...
, Martin Taylor, Emily Remler
Emily Remler
Emily Remler was an American jazz guitarist who rose to prominence in the 1980s. She recorded seven albums of hard bop, jazz standards and fusion guitar.- Early Life and Influences:...
, and George Golla
George Golla
George Golla AM is an Australian jazz guitarist. In 1959 he commenced a long-term working musical partnership with clarinetist/flautist/saxophonist Don Burrows that continued for almost forty years. On 10 June 1985, Golla was made a Member of the Order of Australia with the citation, For service...
.
During the late seventies Bruce taught guitar using the Berklee method books and his own pre-recorded cassette tapes.
His technique emphasised tone and quality of the guitar.
His past guitar students include Mick Harvey
Mick Harvey
Michael John Harvey , is an Australian rock musician, composer, arranger and record producer. He is best known for his long-time collaboration with the singer and songwriter Nick Cave...
, Robert Goodge (of I'm Talking
I'm Talking
I'm Talking was a 1980s Australian funk-pop rock band, which featured vocalists Kate Ceberano and Zan Abeyratne. They formed in 1983 in Melbourne and provided top ten hit singles "Trust Me", "Do You Wanna Be?" and "Holy Word" and a top fifteen album, Bear Witness, before disbanding in...
), Pierre Jaquinot, Anne McCue
Anne McCue
Anne McCue is an alternative country singer-songwriter, guitarist & producer from Australia.- Early life and education :McCue grew up in Campbelltown, an area southwest of Sydney, Australia and graduated from the University of Technology, Sydney with a degree in Film Production and Film Studies...
, Doug de Vries, Dominic Kiernan (various accompanying work), and Andrew Pendlebury (of The Sports
The Sports
The Sports were a popular Australian rock group that performed and recorded between 1976 and 1981.Based in Melbourne, Victoria, the group released a number of successful singles and albums. Their sound fitted well with both 1970s British pub rock bands and British New Wave...
).
Clarke also founded Cumquat Records to issue recordings of Australian Jazz from the 1950s onwards. From his catalogue of recorded works the author quoted his collaboration with George Golla
George Golla
George Golla AM is an Australian jazz guitarist. In 1959 he commenced a long-term working musical partnership with clarinetist/flautist/saxophonist Don Burrows that continued for almost forty years. On 10 June 1985, Golla was made a Member of the Order of Australia with the citation, For service...
on "In Memory Of Charlie Christian
Charlie Christian
Charles Henry "Charlie" Christian was an American swing and jazz guitarist.Christian was an important early performer on the electric guitar, and is cited as a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained national exposure as a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra...
" (aka "Soft Winds" CQCD-2712) as his favorite.
Bruce Clarke worked with Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
and recorded with him on his tour of Australia, and also worked with Mel Torme
Mel Tormé
Melvin Howard Tormé , nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books...
, 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...
, Stephane Grappelli
Stéphane Grappelli
Stéphane Grappelli was a French jazz violinist who founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the first all-string jazz bands....
, Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
, and Legendary Guitarist John Collins
John Collins
- Arts :*John Churton Collins , English literary critic*John Collins , bass guitarist for Powderfinger*John Collins , of The New Pornographers and The Smugglers...
(by whom he was greatly influenced), amongst many other world class musicians.
He died on Thursday 24 July 2008.