Mooroolbark is in for a special treat as local born and bred but now internationally acclaimed jazz pianist and composer Barney McAll returns for a concert.
Supporting the Mooroolbark Umbrella Group (MUG) by sharing a “mixture of solo playing and snippets of his story” of a 20-year career in New York, McAll will join the community at the 12th annual Forum and Quiet Achiever Awards on Thursday 17 October.
Growing up on Pembroke Road, near Bickleigh Vale Road, McAll was surrounded by talent in the form of directors and musicians.
“People like Bruce Rowland (The Man From Snowy River composer) lived up there and one time, the Swedish pop group ABBA stayed in his house,” he told Living Today in 2015.
“Len Barnard also lived up on Bickleigh Vale Road, and he was friends with my parents. He was one of the best-known jazz drummers in Australia. He formed Galapagos Duck, and he’d drop off records for us to listen to, and that’s why, when I was about seven years old, I got to listen to some very hip jazz records in Mooroolbark.”
Studying at the Victorian College of the Arts, McAll’s career took a leap from there and eventually he was travelling back and forth to New York.
By 1995 he’d finished touring with Gary Bartz but was invited to stay on as a band member and made the full time move to the big apple.
From there he worked with people like Sia, was nominated for a Grammy and became an ARIA-winning pianist and composer.
MUG president Randall Bourchier said it was going to be a pleasure to welcome McAll back to the Mooroolbark stage.
“He is a very gifted pianist and composer. It’ll be great to have him back because the album that really put him in the public eye was called Mooroolbark,” he said.
The Forum will get underway at the Mooroolbark Community Centre at 7.30pm, for a gold coin donation. To book, go to yarraranges.vic.gov.au/Experience/Events/Mooroolbark-Umbrella-Group-Forum
