Soundtrack to your studies - 1962

Early on in the university year the Capping Revue show presented the best of student musical and performance talent. Two of the most important events on the student calendar were the Freshers Ball and the Graduation Ball, which both took place at the Peter Pan cabaret at the top of Queen Street with the Arthur Skelton orchestra providing music for dancing and a floorshow featuring vocalists from other notable venues around the city.

The music coverage in Craccum mainly focused on jazz and classical music. The university jazz club also put on half-a-dozen shows throughout the year. In August, they arranged a concert by the city’s best jazz players, the Bob Gillett Quartet. Support was provided by a student group - The Auckland University Jazz Club Sextet featured Murray Stentiford (clarinet), Don Bruce (trumpet), Laurie Walker (drums, Bruce Talbot (tenor sax), Nigel Faigan (bass), and Keith Berman (piano).

That year, one Craccum critic was particularly taken by the exciting new development of poetry being put to jazz music, as he explained.

“Reading poetry to jazz is a new art form that has found increasing popularity in the United States of America and in England. This new phenomenon was demonstrated at a recent meeting of the Arts Society … To set words to a pre-arranged piece of music was one of the difficulties to overcome and a future aim of the society might be not only to produce its own readers and music but possibly the poems themselves … To illustrate this is an art form and not just a gimmick, an extract from Keats was set to music by Gil Evans in a manner that gave the poem heightened meaning to the audience.”

Here’s a little Gil Evans (with Miles Davies) from around this period so you can imagine for yourself how it might sound.

Folk music was also becoming popular in the coffee houses of Auckland. One of the most popular groups was The Convairs and here they are playing at the Shiralee on Customs Street.

Folk music was also popular on the charts and the most popular international album that year was the self-titled album by Peter Paul and Mary. Here they are singing ‘500 Miles’ in 1962.

What was on your turntable while you were on campus? Suggest songs to add to our 1960s playlist, and you could win $100 Flying Out voucher.