Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Don Burrows
Donald Vernon Burrows AO MBE (8 August 1928 – 12 March 2020) was an Australian jazz and swing musician who played clarinet, saxophone and flute.
Donald Vernon Burrows was born on 8 August 1928, the only child of Vernon and Beryl and attended Bondi Public School. In 1937 a visiting flutist and teacher (Victor McMahon) inspired him to start learning the flute. He began on a B-flat flute which he later played at Carnegie Hall and the Newport Jazz Festival. By 1940 he was captain of the Metropolitan Schools Flute Band and began entering talent quests.
By 1942, aged 14, Burrows had begun playing clarinet and quit school. He began appearing at Sydney jazz clubs, and appeared on The Youth Show, a Macquarie Radio show. In 1944 he was invited to play and record with George Trevare's Australians. He became well known in Sydney jazz circles and was performing in dance halls, nightclubs and radio bands. He was a member of Jim Gussey's ABC Dance Band for five years.
During the 1960s and 1970s Burrows had many engagements in Australia and the United States, including six years performing at the Wentworth Hotel in Sydney in quartets with Ed Gaston, George Golla, and various drummers. It was this association which made his name the "most familiar in Australian jazz". In 1972, he was invited to perform at the Montreux Jazz Festival and later the Newport Jazz Festival.
The year 1973 was a watershed for Burrows as he received the first gold record for an Australian jazz musician for his record Just the Beginning, instigated the first jazz studies program in the southern hemisphere, at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music (under the direction of Rex Hobcroft) and was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). In 1979 he was appointed Chair of Jazz Studies at the conservatorium.
Burrows performed to mostly classical music audiences through tours with Musica Viva and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation concert series. He led the nationally televised show The Don Burrows Collection for six years. He had an extensive recording career with his groups and performed on albums by others.
In the 1980s Burrows mentored and was closely associated with James Morrison. He formed the Don Burrows Quartet with George Golla (guitar), Ed Gaston (double bass) and Alan Turnbull (drums). He also worked with Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie, Nat King Cole, Oscar Peterson, Tony Bennett, Stéphane Grappelli, Cleo Laine, and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
In 1981 Burrows played woodwind on a Play School album, Hey Diddle Diddle: it was his only involvement with the show.
Hub AI
Don Burrows AI simulator
(@Don Burrows_simulator)
Don Burrows
Donald Vernon Burrows AO MBE (8 August 1928 – 12 March 2020) was an Australian jazz and swing musician who played clarinet, saxophone and flute.
Donald Vernon Burrows was born on 8 August 1928, the only child of Vernon and Beryl and attended Bondi Public School. In 1937 a visiting flutist and teacher (Victor McMahon) inspired him to start learning the flute. He began on a B-flat flute which he later played at Carnegie Hall and the Newport Jazz Festival. By 1940 he was captain of the Metropolitan Schools Flute Band and began entering talent quests.
By 1942, aged 14, Burrows had begun playing clarinet and quit school. He began appearing at Sydney jazz clubs, and appeared on The Youth Show, a Macquarie Radio show. In 1944 he was invited to play and record with George Trevare's Australians. He became well known in Sydney jazz circles and was performing in dance halls, nightclubs and radio bands. He was a member of Jim Gussey's ABC Dance Band for five years.
During the 1960s and 1970s Burrows had many engagements in Australia and the United States, including six years performing at the Wentworth Hotel in Sydney in quartets with Ed Gaston, George Golla, and various drummers. It was this association which made his name the "most familiar in Australian jazz". In 1972, he was invited to perform at the Montreux Jazz Festival and later the Newport Jazz Festival.
The year 1973 was a watershed for Burrows as he received the first gold record for an Australian jazz musician for his record Just the Beginning, instigated the first jazz studies program in the southern hemisphere, at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music (under the direction of Rex Hobcroft) and was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). In 1979 he was appointed Chair of Jazz Studies at the conservatorium.
Burrows performed to mostly classical music audiences through tours with Musica Viva and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation concert series. He led the nationally televised show The Don Burrows Collection for six years. He had an extensive recording career with his groups and performed on albums by others.
In the 1980s Burrows mentored and was closely associated with James Morrison. He formed the Don Burrows Quartet with George Golla (guitar), Ed Gaston (double bass) and Alan Turnbull (drums). He also worked with Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie, Nat King Cole, Oscar Peterson, Tony Bennett, Stéphane Grappelli, Cleo Laine, and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
In 1981 Burrows played woodwind on a Play School album, Hey Diddle Diddle: it was his only involvement with the show.