Alex Hutchinson

Alexander Hutchinson (born 24 December, 1934) is a Melbourne based Australian musician, who mainly plays clarinet, but also saxophone. His lifetime non-stop seventy year career extends from when he was first professionally employed as a performer at the age of fifteen (1949) until his effective retirement in 2019.

Within the context of his main city of Melbourne and Victoria with its equivalent of 116,000 full time musicians, Hutchinson enjoys an eminence based on his long uninterrupted career, his acknowledged playing ability and his musicianship. As well as his innumerable performances, he has a long history of involvement in the Victorian Jazz Scene campaigning for improved pay and conditions for music makers. This work led to his election as President of the Musicians’ Union. One of his highpoints was his membership of the Graeme Bell All Stars. In their 1955-56 tour, they were hailed as the most popular jazz band in Australia’s history.

He has featured on recorded music which included LPs, 45 rpms, and CDs. One of his video Youtube recordings was his rendition of The Road to Gundagai which in 2020 had 35,000 “hits”.

Born on Christmas Eve, 1934, the young Alex Hutchinson became inspired, at the age of 13, by the music of Benny Goodman. As a young teenager, he found that he had, as a natural instinctive talent, an ear for music. His music teacher at Moreland Central School organised his best students for a performance at the Coburg Town Hall (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia). It was the beginning of Hutchinson’s lifetime career in musical performance.

Later the young Alex took lessons from Reg "Pappy “Lloyd, a renowned and established clarinet player at the Tivoli Theatre, Melbourne. By the age of 15 Alex had formed a duo with pianist/greengrocer Max Sheridan. They provided the music for the Saturday Night Scout Dances in the Buffalo Hall in Victoria Street, Coburg.

The duo soon became a trio and received invitations to perform all over Victoria. Engaged at the Pacific Hotel in Lorne, Victoria, Alex came to the attention of the renowned Graeme Bell, the famous Australian Dixieland and Classical jazz pianist, composer and band leader. Bell’s band happened to be performing nearby at the Wild Colonial Club.

Graeme Bell recognised Hutchinson's talents and welcomed him into his band for tours in 1955 and 1956 – mainly in South Australia. These tours were highly successful. Quotes Alex - ‘’we were treated like rock stars wherever we went. It was a high point in my career.‘’

Hutchinson, a natural musician, mainly played the clarinet. He also developed a high level of expertise with the alto, tenor, and baritone saxophone. In 1958 Alex Hutchinson became part of the Ted Preston Trio with the vocalist Margaret Becker. They played six nights a week at Scotts Hotel in Collins Street in Melbourne city.

In the 1960s top-level musicians were employed for visiting celebrity performers. These included Julie London, Jimmy Rogers, Billy Eckstine, Oscar Peterson, Mickey Rooney and Brook Benton. Alex Hutchinson was always selected for these backing bands. These top level performances were commonly held at the Federal Hotel, the Menzies, and the Savoy Plaza. Late in the 1960s and early seventies Alex was part of the Frank Gow (... the brilliant Alex Hutchinson on reeds) and Geoff Kitchen group, both spawned by Frank Johnson's Fabulous Dixielanders, the Georgia Lett quartet, Barry O'Dowd and Joan Watts and her Wicked Wattnots.

During the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s Alex Hutchinson sustained an eminent position in the active jazz and music life of Melbourne. He was for a time a member of Frank Traynor’s Jazz Preachers (Jazz Unlimited) and was an honoured performance guest at twenty consecutive Merimbula Jazz Festivals. His own trio and quartet entertained at many venues and events including a thirteen year stint at the Savoy Park Plaza in Little Collins Street. During the 1980s and 1990s he played regularly at many jazz festivals including Montsalvat, St Valentine's and Suncoast. In 1994 he was named the winner of the Ron Foale Memorial Award for Outstanding Performance at the Merimbula NSW Jazz Festival.

Alex was a feature in quite a number of recordings created in the 50s, 60s and 70s. These included the first recording of the VFL footy songs and an LP with Georgia Lee, considered the first indigenous Australian jazz and blues singer (1962). He also recorded a CD with Gaynor Bunning.

Hutchinson has recorded four CDs of his own – ‘’The Goodman Touch’’, ‘’A Clarinet Love Affair’’, ‘’Stompin’ at the Savoy’’ (with his close friend, pianist Mickey Tucker), and ‘’The Tassie Connection’’ (with Jack Duffy).

He retains relationships with some of the world's great musicians (some of whom he “hosted” during their Australian visits) including Buddy DeFranco, Oscar Peterson, Eddie Daniels and Clark Terry.

In September 2012 Alex Hutchinson was ranked as number eight in the popular jazz clarinetists of the world rankings. At that stage his acclaimed recording of the Road to Gundagai scored ca.30,000 hits on YouTube - considered a great achievement for a Melbourne musician without international promotion.

• The Goodman Touch
• The Tassie Connection
• Stompin' at the Savoy
• Clarinet Love Affair

• Official website
• Nixon, John, Downbeat -Melbourne Trad Jazz of the early 1960s,Melbourne. 2003
• Clasax, Newsletter of the clarinet and saxophone Society of Victoria, Glen Iris, Vic, March 1994
• Sangster, John, Seeing the Rafters