Graeme Bell - Early Life

Early Life

Bell was born in 1914 in Richmond, Victoria, Australia, to John Alexander Bell, who had performed musical comedy and music hall on the early Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) radio, and Mary Elvina "Elva" (née Rogers) Bell, who had been a contralto recitalist in Dame Nellie Melba's company. His younger brother, Roger Bell (1919–2008), was also a jazz musician.

From the age of 12, Bell had weekly piano lessons in classical music by Jesse Stewart Young, a contemporary of his mother. His parents paid for the piano lessons for the first four years. He attended Scotch College in 1929 and 1930, where he enjoyed playing cricket and creating contemporary art including sketches for the Scotch Collegian. He left school at age 16 during the Great Depression and worked for T & G Insurance as a clerk for over nine years, and had a stint as a farm hand. He paid for his own piano lessons for two further years, and in later years he supplemented his income by teaching.

Bell was converted to jazz by Roger, a drummer, later a singer and trumpeter. Roger would play 78s on the family's record player, including Fats Waller's "Handful of Keys". Bell started playing jazz in 1935 with Roger at Melbourne dances and clubs, one of his earliest gigs was at the Portsea Hotel. While performing at Portsea, he met Margot Bliss. They were married for about a year; Bell later said "we were victims of the war".

By 1941 he fronted his own Graeme Bell Jazz Gang. During World War II, Bell was declared unfit for active service, so he entertained Australian troops, including travelling to Mackay, Queensland in early 1943. After his return to Melbourne, Bell became a full-time professional with the Dixieland Jazz Band, which included Roger Bell, Geoff Kitchen, Adrian "Lazy Ade" Monsbourgh on trumpet, Don "Pixie" Roberts on clarinet, Lou "Baron" Silbereisen and Russ Murphy. Bell's first recordings were for William Miller's Ampersand label in 1943. In 1946, he married Elizabeth Watson (1911–2007). Their marriage lasted until 1961. Their daughter Christina was born during the band's first overseas tour.