Original Tunes Competition | Jazz in Australia

When Graeme Bell’s Dixieland Jazz Band recorded the first genuine Australian jazz records for a major company, Regal Zonophone, at Columbia’s Sydney studios in April 1947 the band decided to include three original tunes. This did not present a problem, as Australian jazzmen had been writing and recording originals for private jazz record labels since the early 1940s. However, it was not until the advent of the Australian Jazz Convention that the practice came to prominence. For the 2nd AJC someone (thought to be Dave Dallwitz) suggested an Original Tunes Competition and (except for 1953) the popular event has become an integral part of the annual AJC programme. Similarly the annual Australian Jazz Bell Awards (to honour jazz pioneer Graeme Bell), which originated in Melbourne in 2003, has a category for Best Australian Jazz Composition of the Year.

No	Year	Location	Original Tune	Composer
1	1946	Melbourne	No Competition
2	1947	Melbourne	Boot Hill	Bob Wright
3	1948	Cootamundra NSW	Ragtime Tuba	Dave Dallwitz
4	1949	Melbourne	Clarinet Sugar	Dave Dallwitz
5	1950	Sydney	Hilarity March	Frank Johnson
6	1951	Adelaide	Stomp Miss Hannah	Ade Monsbourgh
7	1952	Melbourne	Reed Warblers	Dave Dallwitz
8	1953	Hobart	No Competition
9	1954	Sydney	That Ain’t Right	Peter Pretty
10	1955	Cootamundra NSW	Take It Away Henry	Peter Pretty
11	1956	Melbourne	Old Nick Rag	Ross Collins
12	1957	Adelaide	Green Jar Grind	Col Nettleback
13	1958	Sydney	I Know The Feeling Well	Bob Cruickshanks
14	1959	Cootamundra NSW	Bondi Babes	Ade Monsborough
15	1960	Melbourne	I Don’t Know Yet	Neville Stribbling/Ken Colyer
16	1961	Adelaide	Black Diamond Strut	Alex Frame
17	1962	Sydney	Joe Blow	King Fisher
18	1963	Melbourne	Jop	John Roberts
19	1964	Newcastle NSW	B for A	John Bishop
20	1965	Sydney	Nickin’ Off	Nick Polites
21	1966	Melbourne	Teardrops	Dave Hetherington
22	1967	Hobart	Helping Hand Rag Late Hour	Nick Polites Tom Pickering
23	1968	Adelaide	Goolwa Grind	Chris Kelsey
24	1969	Ballarat Vic	Alone	John Colborne-Veal
25	1970	Dubbo NSW	Hourigan Swing	Paul Furniss
26	1971	Hobart	If You Don’t Know The Words	Tom Pickering
27	1972	Adelaide	Bean Bag Strut	Peter Voss
28	1973	Queanbeyan NSW	Minor Iginal	Alex Frame
29	1974	Melbourne	Vy Vee	Adrian Ford
30	1975	Balmain	Ex and Bacon	Adrian Ford
31	1976	Brisbane	JB Stomp	John Bates
32	1977	Hobart	‘Twas A Time	Paul Furniss
33	1978	Adelaide	The Golden City Strut	Herb Jennings
34	1979	Fremantle WA	Melaleuca	Murray Williams
35	1980	Forbes NSW	Christmas Stomp	Ken Evans
36	1981	Geelong Vic	Roll On Friday	Alex Frame
37	1982	Toowoomba Qld	Late Again	Adrian Ford
38	1983	Forbes NSW	Don’t Waste Your Time	Ken & Betty Evans /Danny Moss & Digby
39	1984	Wollongong NSW	One For You Digits	Tich Bray Tony Faulkner
40	1985	Ballarat Vic	I Love That Jazz	Ken Sutton
41	1986	Adelaide	Sauerkraut Stomp	Chris Kelsey
42	1987	Armidale NSW	Dance of the Yowies	John Roberts
43	1988	Sydney	Wistful	Eric Holroyd
44	1989	Perth	My Sweet Toute Suite	John Roberts
45	1990	Launceston	Golden Blues Rag	Chris Kelsey
46	1991	Newcastle NSW	The New Newcastle You Never Care	John Bates Geoff Bland
47	1992	Geelong Vic	Noalimba Breakout Like Fire (Young Composer)	Eric Holroyd Ben Johnson
48	1993	Adelaide	Crown and Anchor Stomp	Herb Jennings
49	1994	Gold Coast Qld	Forty Nine and Stoked	Mal Jennings
50	1995	Melbourne	Thinking Of Yourself	Mal Jennings
51	1996	Bathurst NSW	Someday You’ll Know The Blues	John Bates
52	1997	Launceston	Adina	John Roberts
53	1998	Geelong Vic	Why Should I Be Blue Serenity (Young Composer)	John Bates Ben Calderazzo
54	1999	Perth	Leneva	John Roberts
55	2000	Forbes NSW	Welcome To Jazz Land	Ade Monsborough
56	2001	Adelaide	Kangarilla	John Roberts
57	2002	Launceston	Bev’s Washboard Stomp in B#	Graeme Bell
58	2003	Forbes NSW	Poor Forgotten Sweetheart	John Bates
59	2004	Stawell Vic	Bonza Stomp	Herb Jennings
60	2005	Lismore NSW	Scuttly Butt Swing	Mal Jennings
61	2006	Adelaide	Christabel	Danny Hodgson
62	2007	Goulburn NSW	Silent Movie	Peter Wolstenholme
63	2008	Lismore NSW	I Know That My Wife Cares	Adrian Ford
64	2009	Melbourne	Use It Or Lose It	John Bates
65	2010	Orange NSW	This Is Paradise	Adrian Ford
66	2011	Bundaberg, Qld	Welcome The Day	Fred Clough
67	2012	Forbes, NSW	Sweet One	Jim Mills
68	2013	Goulburn, NSW	Bit of Fun If Not For Billie	Fred Clough Anne Syer
69	2014	Swan Hill, Victoria	Up and Down	Bruce Gourlay