Bob Barnard's High 5

Historical article recovered from a Wayback capture dated 2018-02-24.

Bob Barnard reached the landmark age of 75 on 24 November 2008. Bob has been one of this country’s quiet achievers. He has been playing music for over 60 years and is still regularly sought after for international jazz festivals. Indeed he is better known abroad than he is in his own country. He has been a passionate, if unofficial, long-time ambassador for Australia in the international arena for the last 40 years or so. He also strongly supports up-and-coming young Australian musicians. Now the ‘patriarch’ of a musical family, Bob is patron of a number of amateur brass bands and jazz associations and freely offers musical and professional advice and guidance to those who seek his help. Considered by critics as the best trumpeter Australia has ever produced, he is a self-effacing man who just gets on with his life bringing pleasure to thousands with his lyrical playing. He is a pioneer of jazz in Australia, and one of its greatest exponents.

Bob Barnard has been a driving force in Australian and international jazz for more almost 60 years. He began his career as a boy in Melbourne, when he played the trumpet with his mother’s dance band on Saturday nights. While still in his teens, he toured eastern Australia with his brother, drummer Len Barnard, playing at some of Australia’s premier night spots and jazz clubs. Bob has often been credited with being a major contributor to an ‘Australian’ style of jazz. For many years, he led his own band, making regular appearances at major jazz festivals all over the world.

In Australia, he has played with local legends Graeme Bell, Don Burrows, Ade Monsborough and James Morrison to name just a few. Internationally, he has played and recorded with countless eminent musicians, among them Ralph Sutton, Peanuts Hucko, Bud Freeman, Wild Bill Davison, Dick Cary, Jim Cullum and Dan Barrett.

Based in Sydney, Bob tours the world regularly as a solo performer. He plays at Europe’s most famous jazz venues including at London’s Ronnie Scott’s, and is a regular visitor to the United States.

Bob has received many tributes and honours over the years, and is a two-time winner of the Australian entertainment industry’s highest award, the Mo—he was named ‘Jazz Performer of the Year’ in 1993 and 1997. In 1990, his countrymen bestowed upon him an Order of Australia for his services to music. Bob Barnard is rightly considered one of the world’s finest mainstream jazz trumpet players.

I’ve mentioned a couple of gigs I played myself as I was pretty impressed with how the gigs went.

1. LOUIS ARMSTRONG – Melbourne Stadium, 1953

I was 19 years old and Louis was my boyhood idol, so I went to all 11 of his concerts. My friends and I sat in the front row, smoking American cigarettes (you could smoke at venues at the time). It was an overwhelming experience.

2. BOB BARNARD – Stockholm, Sweden, 1995

I was staying in New York when I was asked to do a one-nighter in a big Stockholm concert hall. I’ve done a few one-nighters (Dubai, Bangkok), but this was a bit out of the ordinary. I think it coincided with the awarding of the Nobel Prizes.

3. LINCOLN CENTRE JAZZ ORCHESTRA with WYNTON MARSALIS – Tribute to Sidney Bechet, New York, 1997

I was unable to get to the concert, but Bob Wilbur (Bechet’s protégé) invited me to the rehearsal, where I met Wynton and got to hear these fantastic musicians.

4. BARNARD GENERATIONS BAND – Thredbo Jazz Festival, May 2007

This was a performance featuring three generations of my family (me, my sons, Tony and Adam, my niece Rebecca, and my grandsons, Beau and Casey Golden) and it went really well. They’re all really great players.

5. RONNIE SCOTT’S BIG BAND – Tribute to Duke Ellington, August 2008

This is an astoundingly good band, and I was lucky enough to play with it on a recent trip to London. My son Tony lives in London and is the guitarist in this band. He got me the gig.