Jim Gussey

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Jim Gussey ( c. 1908 – 6 January 1990) was a New Zealand-born trumpeter who had a successful career in Australia. He is best remembered as conductor of the ABC Dance Band, performing on ABC radio and television networks.

History

Gussey was born in Auckland, New Zealand, a son of Mary Ann Gussey[1] and Thomas Andrew Gussey.[2] At the age of ten he was playing trumpet with the Ponsonby Boys' Band.[3]

He moved to Australia around 1928,[4] and began working in theatre bands for J. C. Williamson's[5] and Dawson's fashionable Ambassadors restaurant on Pitt Street.[6]

Gussey joined Jim Davidson's ABC Dance Band in 1933.[3] Other members of the band in 1935 were Peter Cantrell (alto saxophone), Dudley Cantrell (trombone), Jack Rickette (piano), Charles Donovan (saxophone), Gordon Rawlinson (piano), Alice Smith (vocals), Frank McLaughlin (alto saxophone), Allen Barr (guitar), Ray Tarrant (trumpet), Tom Stevenson (drums), O. Wills (double bass), John Warren (vocals), and Essie Morrison (piano).[7] In 1937 he was a member of an ensemble selected by Davidson to tour Australia, accompanying Gladys Moncrieff, Tex Morton, and harmonica virtuoso Harry Thompson.[8] In 1938 the band made another Australian tour.[9]

In 1941 Davidson joined the Second AIF, leading an army band, and Gussey, who had been acting as his deputy, was appointed conductor in his place.[4] In 1951 his band played at the function accompanying the inaugural ABC Sportsman of the Year award at the Sydney Town Hall.[10] In February 1954 he led the band playing at two balls — Sydney and Canberra — attended by the newly-crowned Elizabeth II.[6]

He led the ABC dance band in many live-to-air programs in the early days of television in Australia, notably The Lorrae Desmond Show[11] and its successor, Four for the Show.[12] He led the ABC Dance Band in two series of concerts for Australian troops in Vietnam, the first in March 1969.[13] He retired in 1969.[3]

Gussey wrote and arranged a large number of songs and orchestral pieces, many of which have been published.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Family Notices". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 35, 589. New South Wales, Australia. 15 January 1952. p. 18. Retrieved 8 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ "Family Notices". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 35, 542. New South Wales, Australia. 20 November 1951. p. 18. Retrieved 8 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ a b c "Ex-ABC band leader dies". The Canberra Times. Vol. 64, no. 19, 995. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 9 January 1990. p. 4. Retrieved 8 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ a b "ABC Dance Band Leader". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 29, 579. Victoria, Australia. 12 June 1941. p. 4. Retrieved 7 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "The Band for the Ball". Lithgow Mercury. New South Wales, Australia. 23 June 1948. p. 5. Retrieved 7 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ a b "To Make the Queen's Music". The Sun-Herald. New South Wales, Australia. 17 January 1954. p. 18. Retrieved 7 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "Our Radio Page". The Land (newspaper). No. 1279. New South Wales, Australia. 20 December 1935. p. 16. Retrieved 7 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "Gladys Moncrieff and Jim Davidson's A.B.C. Dance Band". The Telegraph (Brisbane). Queensland, Australia. 27 October 1937. p. 25. Retrieved 7 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ "Jim Davidson's Band Arrives". Barrier Miner. Vol. LI, no. 15, 148. New South Wales, Australia. 24 March 1938. p. 3. Retrieved 8 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ "Sporting heroes to walk over water at awards". The Canberra Times. Vol. 64, no. 20, 000. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 14 January 1990. p. 15. Retrieved 8 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "ABC-3 Opening Programmes". The Canberra Times. Vol. 37, no. 10, 405. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 11 December 1962. p. 21. Retrieved 8 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ ""Four for the Show"". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 31, no. 8. Australia, Australia. 24 July 1963. p. 18. Retrieved 8 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ^ "ABC band at Nui Dat". The Canberra Times. Vol. 41, no. 11, 629. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 6 March 1967. p. 7. Retrieved 8 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ^ Gussey, Jim; Wilton; McLeod, Jim; Portingale, Wally; Samuel, D; Thurgate, Neil (1930), Works by Jim Gussey and others : from the Australian Music Centre archive
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