Joe Lane (21 March 1927 – 13 April 2007) was an Australian Bebop jazz vocalist based in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. Born Keith Joseph Lane in Sydney, Australia, he first heard bebop whilst in the army in 1947. After leaving the army he studied with conductor and teacher of advanced harmony Roy Maling, and then introduced vocal bebop into Sydney clubs such as El Rocco, the Arabian, and the Mocambo. In 1949 he formed a vocal group with Ian Gunter, which worked at Sammy Lee's Club 47. He took on the stage name of Joe "Bebop" Lane. In the 1950s Lane led the Dee Jays, which singer Johnny O'Keefe later took over, and managed to secure jamming sessions with visiting

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, including members of the

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles M ...

and Stan Kenton bands. He also worked on the ''Cool for Cats'' TV show in

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. 1968 saw Lane moving to

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where he established his own jazz club/workshop in

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, presenting concerts and master-classes on the bebop vocal style. Returning to Sydney in 1971 he continued working venues and festivals. In the mid-1980s, he formed his own band ''Killer Joe'', with drummer Dennis Sutherland, and later, ''The Jazz Cats'', which had a residency at Sydney's Criterion Hotel. He also presented a 'history of jazz' show at The Basement in Sydney, which became legendary for the audience reactions it elicited. Lane was given a feature role in Kevin Lucas's award-winning jazz film ''Beyond El Rocco'' and in the mid-1990s he released his CD album, ''The Arrival''. He was a headline artist in the ''Canberra Jazz Initiative'' in ''1993'', which was a month-long festival produced by students from the ANU School of Music Jazz Department. An established jazz artist was teamed up with the best student players for each of the twelve concerts. In 2002, Lane featured as soloist with the Australian Art Orchestra, directed by Paul Grabowsky (with ten other jazz vocalists) at the

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in a concert for the

Sydney Festival Sydney Festival is a major arts festival in Australia's largest city, Sydney that runs for three weeks every January, since it was established in 1977. The festival program features in excess of 100 events from local and international artists an ...

entitled ''Testimony – An Examination of the Life and Music of Charlie Parker''. Joe Lane spent his final years in a nursing home in Sydney's inner-west, following a stroke that left him unable to speak, although he was remarkably still able to sing, which he did whenever his many musician friends visited. He died there on 13 April 2007, aged 80.

External links

* Obituary {{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Joe 1927 births 2007 deaths Singers from Sydney 20th-century Australian male singers