Australian jazz pioneer Judy Bailey, accomplished pianist, composer and educator, dies aged 89

Australia Broadcast Center

3 days ago

Australian jazz pioneer Judy Bailey has died peacefully at the age of 89.
The New Zealand-born pianist was one of the most prominent forces on the Australian music scene, ever since she arrived in Australia in the early 1960s.
A brilliant musician and composer, Bailey was also a keen educator, with a passion for building up generations of young Australian jazz musicians.
Her son, Chris De Gray, said he and his sister Lisette were "privileged to have been with her and holding her right to her last breath".
"We are so sad right now but happy that she is free of her suffering," he said.
Growing up on New Zealand's North Island in the 1940s, Bailey first encountered the piano at the age of 10 — and soon developed an ear for jazz after hearing George Shearing on a local radio broadcast.
"It just hit me between the eyes, and I remember that after hearing this one piece, I went over to the piano with a feeling that I had never had before," she said in 1981.
Piano at the time was somewhat of a hobby. Despite the fact that Bailey was learning from a former Trinity College teacher in New Zealand, she initially left school looking for a job to help support her family.
Yet music was always more than just an interest, and by 1960 she found herself en route to Sydney, with the intention of continuing on to the United Kingdom to further her musical endeavours.
Luckily for Australia, she decided to stick around.
After arriving in Sydney, it wasn't long before Bailey found herself at the El Rocco — the hub for underground improvised music in the city.
Speaking with writer John Clare in 1995, she recalled that during the 60s, the club hosted a "particular sort of modern jazz … there was a fair amount of experimentation, and people were more inclined to accept the experimentation with a certain amount of curiosity".
At the El Rocco, Bailey encountered many aspiring jazz musicians such as John Sangster and Graeme Lyall.
But it was fellow New Zealand ex-pat Julian Lee who helped give the young piano player the break she needed.
Lee helped Judy get a gig with Tommy Tycho's orchestra at Channel 7, and it wasn't long before Don Burrows invited her into his septet for recordings at the ABC.
ABC Jazz featured Don as a Retro Artist in early 2018 — and a memorable session from that era was an LP Burrows produced featuring his band's work for TV called On Camera — showcasing Judy Bailey on the piano.
For Judy and many other musicians in Australia during the 1960s, TV gigs were one of the main sources of income — and Bailey would continue on to work for both Channel 9 and Channel 10.
During the 60s, Bailey also cut her own albums as a bandleader, recording two albums for CBS with producer Sven Libaek.
One of those records from 1965 was called My Favourite Things — and featured her compatriots from the El Rocco, including Sangster, Lyall, Ed Gaston and Jack Grimsely.
Addressing her role as a leading woman in the Australian jazz scene during that era, Bailey remarked that there was a certain novelty to it all.
However, she was also "quite certain that if I hadn't been able to prove my point, it couldn't have continued".
While she earned the respect of her peers as a player first, Bailey also endured struggles as a young mother, balancing a demanding life as a gigging musician with looking after her young children.
During the early 70s (in between rearing her own children) she started working for ABC Radio, producing music content for kids.
She also began working professionally as an educator, becoming one of the founding faculty members for the jazz program at the prestigious Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
In 1974, Bailey formed one of her most well-known combos called the Judy Bailey Quartet, featuring Ron Philpott on bass, John Pochee on drums and Ken James on sax.
The band only produced two studio albums, yet they were both important and memorable LPs, with Bailey leading from the front on the electric piano.
With her own ensemble, Bailey was also able to showcase some of her original writing in the jazz fusion style.
One of her tracks from the album Colours was sampled by hip hop artist Rick Ross on the tune Santorini Greece.
The record was originally recorded at Trafalgar Studios in Sydney in 1976 — and somehow made it into the hands of Ross's producer Bink 40 years later.
The 1980s saw Judy team up with the rock vocalist Margret Roadknight as a side-woman for the record Out Of Fashion … Not Out Of Style.
Whilst largely a departure for the jazz pianist, working with Roadknight broadened Bailey's musical horizons.
She went back to the blues, and even started exploring classical and folkloric music, which — in turn — informed her jazz playing.
"I thought, 'You've heard jazz until it's pouring out of your ears. Try to cut the apron strings. Try to find your own direction'," she said.
"And that's the way it still is."
Aside from performing, education was always an important part of Bailey's work as a musician.
Aside from her work in various roles at the ABC over the years, she served on the Australia Council Music Board, and toured internationally with Musica Viva.
She was also a key figure in the Con's jazz department over many decades, and organised music performances and lectures at the Sydney Opera House.
Another important and memorable contribution on the education front for many years was her student-run big band — Judy Bailey's Jazz Connection.
The ensemble, led by Bailey, was formed in the early 1990s, and over the years aided the development of a large number of young, local jazz musicians by giving students the opportunity to perform live in various clubs and venues around Sydney and further afield.
"When you've got something yourself that you've discovered, experienced and nurtured, and it's been a tremendous thing in your life, then it's natural for you to want to help other people who are exhibiting the same need to experience what you've experienced," she told saxophonist Jeremy Rose in 2015.
Bailey passed away on August 8, at the age of 89.
Her legacy as a trailblazing pianist and composer in Australia will be long remembered.
This article was originally written in 2018 as part of ABC Jazz's Retro Artist series. It was updated on August 11, 2025.