The saints come marching in as the popularity of big band and jazz music encompasses part three of our look at the history of live music in St Kilda.
The 1920s and ’30s saw venues like the Palais and National Theatre mature and cement the area as an entertainment destination, bringing a flood of live music venues. The Galleone Coffee Lounge and the early days of St Moritz were just some of the spaces that would help create a breeding ground for new waves of contemporary music in Australia.
Simon Myers, co-venue manager of Memo Music Hall, joins us again to discuss how venues like The Esplanade Hotel, Jazz Centre 44 and Earl’s Court became a home for a diverse mix of innovative and working-class bands attracting musicians in droves.
St Kilda’s jazz legends
“St Moritz was a dance hall, then an ice-skating rink before it included a music venue (called Bananas in the 70s), and The Venue, of course, was there before it was burnt down,” he says.
“You’ve got to remember that in that era, Melbourne had its own style of jazz,” explains Simon. “Bryan Brown, Alan Keys, Stewart “Stewie” Speer, all these blokes were all recognised around the world.” Speer, the veteran drummer best remembered for Max Merritt & The Meteors, began his career in jazz in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s.
Speer was a member of The Brian Brown Quintet, who were regulars at Jazz Centre 44, which ran from 1955 to 1960 and was home to a progressive east-coast style of modern jazz for that time, which differed from the sound of artists like Chet Baker and Dave Brubeck who were popular with modern jazz fans in Australia. The Brown Quintet were responsible for introducing locals to the then-unheard style of jazz artists like Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins.
The Galleone, George and Esplanade
The Galleone Coffee Lounge opened in 1933 on Acland Street, offering comedy, jazz and swing bands. It slowly grew in popularity to eventually have a capacity of 500+. As it grew, it would take over whichever shopfront was next in line until it occupied the space of four. The Galleon Cafe, which can be found today on Carlisle Street, pays homage to this great venue not only in name but also by serving some pretty good coffee.
In the 1940s, the Esplanade and George Hotel featured big bands, and the latter was also a popular wedding venue. The war brought hordes of American troops into St Kilda, again strengthening its reputation as an entertainment district and this, the popularity of Fitzroy Street and population-dense housing, begun to attract musicians in droves.
The bohemian ’50s
St Kilda was home to many young artists and musicians thanks to its cheap housing by the ’50s. Acland Street lifted its café game thanks to the arrival of European migrants and St Kilda’s cultural melting pot bubbled along. Jazz was still a very big deal and Jazz Centre 44, a part of the Katherina Club, opens in 1956 just in time for the Olympic Games to use a number of St Kilda venues for events.
Jazz Centre 44, which is now a McDonalds, was once referred to as “the halcyon days of modern jazz music in Melbourne” by renowned jazz drummer/bandleader Ted Vining. To help ensure St Kilda remained at the forefront of musical innovation, the 44 wasn’t the home of mainstream jazz, but rather an underground variant called hard bop, and you needed a Jazz Centre 44 membership card to enter and learn all about it.
In the mid-’50s, Telefil Recording Studios was set up in MEMO and helmed by award-winning producer and engineer Bill Armstrong. In the ’60s, teen-pop idol Normie Row would record the studio’s first hit, Ain’t Necessarily So.
“Back then, St Kilda was a total cultural melting pot, and they all maintained their own identity,” explains Simon. “All of these venues, like the Prince of Wales, which ended up becoming the Prince Ballroom, were already iconic at this point. One of the big hangouts was the Pokies Dragshow, which was also already a recognised and iconic venue before the ’60s and ’70s when everything went through a transition process.”
To find out more information about the St Kilda Live Music Precinct, head to the website here.
This article was made in partnership with City of Port Phillip.
