Bob Sedergreen

Bob began classical training at five. Early listening to Dave Brubeck, Oscar Peterson and Wynton Kelly mattered, yet he always knew the point was original exploration and creative improvisation, not imitation. He has worked the instrument inside and out — strings as well as keys, electric keyboards and mini Korg synthesisers among them.

His standing in Australian music is secure: performance, composition and education have made him a national figure. He has worked with major international visitors including Jimmy Witherspoon, Nat Adderley and Dizzy Gillespie, and with Australian colleagues such as John Sangster, Don Burrows, Brian Brown and Judy Jacques.

He leads and joins ensembles across the traditional and the contemporary, bringing authority, invention and wit without arrogance. Tours have taken him through Australia and overseas to Montreal, Malaysia and Europe. In 1990 he won the inaugural Jazz Award for Australia’s best keyboardist. As an educator he helped establish jazz components in Melbourne University’s Artist in Residence Scheme across Victorian secondary schools.

To play with him has been called the “ultimate armchair ride”; to hear him is always exciting and satisfying.