Bernie Mcgann 1966 Vinyl

This compilation documents part of an exciting period in Australasian jazz. Recorded in Sydney, 1966, we can hear Bernie McGann was already one of the great Australian jazz stylists. At the time, the only publicly available recording he made was two tracks on the Jazz Australia compilation (1967) (CBS BP 233450).

Two years earlier, McGann was living in Auckland, New Zealand (1963-64). It was here that he worked regularly with Kim Paterson, Andy Brown and pianist Dave MacRae, and the basis of this band came into being. ‘Lazy Days’, ‘Chuggin’, and ‘Sky’ were salvaged from a cassette in Kim Paterson’s collection, one of the few re- maining copies. Originally intended for a radio broadcast, the master tapes were reportedly destroyed after the session.

‘Rhythm-a-Ning’ and ‘When Will The Blues Leave?’ were taped by Trevor Graham at the Wayside Chapel in King’s Cross. Graham was a Sydney music journalist and ally of the avant garde, with the foresight to capture some of what was happening at the time.

This album is also notable for a rare appearance by the mysterious American drummer George Neidorf (misspelt as ‘Neidori’ in the liner notes on the first Soft Machine album), an early influence on drummer Robert Wyatt. Field recordings of a major artist in strong company – a lost treasure of Antipodean modern jazz.