Brisbane Jazz Club Official Reopening

The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Councillor Adrian Schrinner; Brisbane Jazz Club President, Ms Helen Abrahams and Committee Members including former President Mr David Herbert; Members of the Renovation Team, including the many volunteers and workers who assisted with the renovations and reopening of one of Graeme’s and my favourite music venues; ladies and gentlemen, good evening.

I acknowledge the Original Custodians of the lands around Brisbane, the Turrbul and Jagera people, and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and to any First Nations people here this evening.

Tonight’s official re-opening is the latest of many memorable visits Graeme and I have made to the Brisbane Jazz Club since I was appointed as Governor, and we’re delighted to be with you again tonight as Joint Patrons.

My very first official visit to the Club was in March 2022, just four months after my appointment and only a fortnight after the muddy tide of that year’s summer floods had swept through these premises.

On that occasion I saw, first-hand, the distressing aftermath, but, more importantly, I saw and was inspired by the positive attitude of members and by their determination to restore their much-loved Club.  

It was clear that it would take much more than mud to put an end to fifty fabulous years in this treasured riverside venue, especially given the history of barriers and setbacks that this Club has encountered – and survived.

First, there was the 1968 fire within days of the establishment of the Adventurers’ Club, then there were the repeated encounters with liquor licensing authorities, the flood of 1974, noise complaints, and yet another flood in 2011.  

With that history, the 2022 flood was just another ‘day in the office’ – call in the volunteers, pull on the boots, and fire up the pressure hoses.

The passion and commitment of volunteers that I saw that day, and the spirit of generosity that drives them, is something I encounter repeatedly throughout Queensland as I meet the members of organisations of which I am Patron.   

Tonight’s re-opening is a superb example of that powerful spirit, and Graeme and I have been very impressed by the speed and efficiency with which the Club seamlessly relocated to enable these renovations to take place.  

Within days of the Brad Leaver and Swing Central performance we attended here in March, the Club was fully installed and operational in the Officers Mess on Oxlade Drive in New Farm, and the Club’s army of volunteers had moved into this historic Annie Street boathouse to begin work.

In the weeks since then, with the generous support of funds from the Lord Mayor’s Better Suburbs Grants program, the long-awaited renovations and extensions have been completed. Numerous flood-proofing and other maintenance jobs have been implemented.

There’s a new, higher ceiling without the scratches made by generations of double-bass scrolls; and all without sacrificing that marvellous, million-dollar view from the deck.

Graeme and I are proud to be Patrons of this club. It is a true survivor and remains not only Brisbane’s premier venue for jazz, with an enviable annual program of performances and festivals, but Australia’s only volunteer-run jazz club with its own premises.  

That’s something to be celebrate, and in declaring this new extension officially open, I am reminded of just how significant and rare such a survival story is.  

It’s worth recalling that, barely a century ago, Brisbane’s Telegraph newspaper carried this description of the music we so love and admire today: "A Jazz Band may be briefly described as a crazy combination of temperamental musicians…taking all sorts of liberties with their music…with the greatest nonchalance and an utter disregard for all recognised musical forms".

Long may those crazy combinations continue in this wonderful, refurbished – and more flood resilient – facility!