Master Musician Blows In For Outback Jams

Sydney Morning Herald

Sunday September 28, 1997

By ANTHONY HOY Rural Editor

From Coober Pedy to Port Augusta, Roxby Downs to Nilpinna Station, budding outback maestros have trekked up to 1,200 kilometres to jam with the Master.

School's in session in the opal fields with the patron of the disadvantaged muso, Don Burrows.

Burrows's skills on the tin whistle at age nine at Bondi Public School were honed by a visit by the late, great classical flautist Victor McMahon.

At the Newport Jazz Festival at Carnegie Hall in 1978, Burrows paid tribute to his childhood mentor with a performance on his original B-flat school flute.

And he resolved that he, too, would do all in his power to foster the talents of the disadvantaged and isolated music student.

A creative arts fellowship is the means by which Burrows, accompanied by his keyboard colleague Kevin Hunt, nowadays ranges Australia on his 30-year-mission to provide encouragement and search for that spark of genius.

"You never know where it will turn up," he said at Coober Pedy last week. "I found a 15-year-old girl at Rockhampton who played alto saxophone just like Charlie Parker - simply from listening to her parents' records.

"And a little girl trumpet player in the backblocks of Queensland who had unbelievable phrasing and sound when she played a duet with me."

Burrows is helping one young musician establish a mobile remote area instrument repair business. "Breakdowns are the bane of the lives of these isolated young musicians."

These are self-taught kids who go to extreme lengths to learn their chosen instrument - using "diverse communication hands-free technology" for phone ensemble sessions with other young musicians hundreds of kilometres away.

The more fortunate are taught using "picture-tel" on simultaneous ISDN fibre-optic phone connections, their teacher monitoring their progress on a split video screen with one camera focused on their instrumental handwork and another on their face.

Burrows provides the next dimension - that infusion of improvisation and teamwork by a professional - working with each child on solo and duet right through to the big band.

At Whyalla recently he had to call in professional assistance when 1,000 children registered for one of his Outback Jammin' sessions, which include classics like Stompin' at the Savoy, Misty, Summertime, The Very Thought of You, and orchestral favourites such as Power Rock, Wombat Shuffle and Ju's Plain Blues.

"Don is very quick to assess abilities and extend the kids' musicianship," Coober Pedy school principal Mr Jeff Fiddler said. "They see what is possible in their music from a world-class musician."

Burrows corresponds with hundreds of his Outback Jammin' graduates, surprising many with the occasional phone call to maintain their enthusiasm.

And he draws on the best of them for his Don Burrows Supper Club and Don Burrows and Friends appearances around the country.

© 1997 Sydney Morning Herald

Back to News Index | Back to Home