Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Frank Traynor was born on August 8, 1927 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He formed his first band, the Black Bottom Stompers, in 1949 and in 1951 he joined the Len Barnard Band. That same year he was voted best trombonist in the Make Way for the Bands poll and made his first recordings with this band.

Traynor became a regular feature at Athol’s Abbey, an underground bar and grill on the corner of St Kilda Road and Park Street. In 1963, Traynor recorded an EP with Judith Durham titled, Judy Durham. Frank and his band the Jazz Preachers were also a feature of the Melbourne City Council’s – Free Entertainment in the Parks.

Founding the Melbourne Jazz Club in 1958, and not limiting his entrepreneurial skills to just jazz he also established and ran the Frank Traynor’s Folk and Jazz Club from 1963–75, which played a central role in the Australian folk revival.

Trombonist Frank Traynor led Australia’s longest continuously running jazz band, the Jazz Preachers, from 1956 until he was diagnosed with leukaemia and passed away on February 22, 1985 in Melbourne.

More Posts: trombone