Occupation: Jazz aficionado
Born: October 30, 1923, England
Died: December 23, 2011 Brisbane
"You shouldn't have to play a horn, you can show your love for the jazz craft in other ways," the late Jim Barlow once told me.
Barlow spent almost half a lifetime's energies helping to organise and actively promote the music he loved. "Gentleman Jim" - the nickname 4MBS Classic FM manager Gary Thorpe liked to apply to the dapper Mr Barlow - is a neat personality overview. Mr Thorpe praised his 33-year involvement with the radio station's jazz and classical promotions, both on air and behind the scenes. "Jim in fact could present expertly and with equal competence and authority in delivering both jazz and classical on-air programs," he said. "Jim's 18-year specialty in delivering jazz content and also his breadth and depth of knowledge of the jazz genre made him one of the station's most respected presenters. "I can't think of a single program when Jim did not go out of his way to promote a local jazz event and, in particular, local artists."
Queensland Conservatorium senior lecturer and coordinator of jazz studies Louise Denson also paid tribute to Mr Barlow's talents. "The Brisbane jazz scene is all the richer for having such a dedicated supporter and promoter in Jim Barlow," she said. "The exposure and opportunities Jim offered to countless groups and individuals has had a lasting impact." Pianist Jeff Usher, singer Ingrid James and many other local musicians with whom I recently spoke echoed her comments. Equally impressive were Mr Barlow's organisational abilities and longstanding, close involvement with the Brisbane Jazz Club.
Born in England, he initially took up an apprenticeship with shipbuilders and engineers Harland and Wolff Limited in 1939 as a carpenter, later serving in the merchant navy. In 1956, he emigrated to Australia, moving to Brisbane where he studied building at the Central Technical College. By 1966, he decided to pursue further study in architecture, but what really drove Mr Barlow was his personal goal to stay in touch with jazz music.
In 1984, accompanied by his wife Pearl (who passed away just a month before him), Mr Barlow completed a 10-week odyssey of UQ jazz centres, taping interviews with jazz greats whose music he played on air back in Brisbane.
But, in some ways, Mr Barlow's greatest audience was his family. In a moving funeral service testimonial, Jane Barlow spoke lovingly and eloquently of her grandfather's impact on her and on other family members. "As a young man, Grandad faced the devastation of bombs dropping on his house in England during the war, yet, after serving in Britain's wartime merchant marine service, he learned to get up, dust off, and go on," she said. "It was the same attitude he applied to his later life. Even after Nan's passing, Granddad didn't die of a broken heart. He was looking forward to an overseas trip, resuming his outings to the Brisbane Jazz Club, and again sharing his love of music with a new string of children."
Ms Barlow said her grandfather passed on one of his great metaphors of life. "Embrace everything, every smile, every tear, every breath, for life is as fragile as crystal and can be broken in an instant. This was one of the most important things he taught me," she said.
My own 25-year friendship with Mr Barlow underscored other such life values. As well, he could provide succinct critical points on what style of jazz was being played and, moreover, how the audience was receiving it. In short he was an excellent person to know if you were writing about, or critiquing the music.
Now, I have my own particular fantasy about Mr Barlow with wife Pearl strolling about in the Jazz Heaven - and suddenly coming upon both Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald sitting over their coffee shop cappuccinos. Typically, to get some lively quotes from them for his next radio program, Mr Balrow engages these two jazz icons - somewhat wearingly, after a full hour - in debate. But also typically, Mr Barlow gets what he wants and his next program will be the better for it. Anyway, he can be forgiven. He is, after all, communicating - indeed sharing - his passion.
And in the end, his affability, as always, proves contagious.
Jim Barlow is survived by two of his three children, 10 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
Author Neville Meyers is a Lecturer in jazz studies at the Queensland Conservatorium and President, Queensland Jazz Archive Inc.
This obituary appeared in the Courier Mail, January 28-29, 2012.
