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Bernard Francis “Bernie” McGann was born June 22, 1937 in Granville, New South Wales, Australia.  He began his career in the late 1950s and remained active as a performer, composer, and recording artist until near the end of his life.

Bernie first came to prominence as part of a loose alliance of modern jazz musicians who performed at the El Rocco Jazz Cellar in Kings Cross, Sydney in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He had an enduring collaboration with drummer John Pochee.

During the 1960s and early 1970s, McGann also performed with rock and pop groups as a session musician. Around 1970 he was a member of the Sydney rock-soul band Southern Comfort.

He led the Bernie McGann Trio and Bernie McGann Quartet through his career. The most well-known lineup of the trio was McGann on alto saxophone, John Pochee on drums, Lloyd Swanton on bass, with the addition of Warwick Alder on trumpet in the quartet.

Alto saxophonist Bernie McGann passed away on September 17, 2013 following complications from heart surgery. He was 76.

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