Gil Askey:
Retiring legend can't stop the music

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As word of Askey's skills got around, he became more in demand. The Peninsula Youth Music Society lost its music director so he helped them out 'temporarily'. Every Wednesday, he still runs rehearsals for them. Eventually there were so many kids and their brothers and sisters involved that he had to run two groups. "You put yourself on the line, they take all you can give," says Gil in good-humoured resignation. As a beach bum, he is a failure. "I've only been fishing once since I retired." Similarly, Askey filled in for the music director of a Rotary-sponsored youth band. His six-week relieving stint turned into six years.

When he settled in Australia in the early eighties, he hadn't played trumpet professionally for 23 years, as he had been in constant, overwhelming demand as an arranger and film composer. A sax-playing friend from the US (famous for performing the Pink Panther theme for Henry Mancini) met him in Melbourne and induced him to start playing again. Gil "kept going out, playing horn and having a lot of fun" with most of the stalwarts of the Melbourne jazz scene, including Bob and Steve Sedergreen, and Paul Williamson (with whom he currently plays every week.)

"I didn't plan on this, it just happened" said Askey.

Which seems to be the story of his life. Born in Austin, Texas, Gil Askey remembers, when he was seven, hearing the great Harry James play Flight Of The Bumble Bee on trumpet and "wondering how anyone could do that." He was forced to play in the high school band 'as a punishment', but benefitted from the discipline of rehearsals. Leaving school at fifteen, he eventually got a scholarship for a medical course (run by the Army) but dropped out because formal study was not for him. He had numerous jobs such as waiter and busboy, but the horn "became my nipple. I played whenever I got lonely. I used to play when I travelled on trains, wandering up and down playing Stardust or some such. The horn took over my life."

He did get to meet Harry James, and Louis Armstrong. One contact led to another. Gene Krupa led to Lionel Hampton led to playing onstage with Benny Goodman. The rest is history.

Eventually Gil got tired of the frenetic music world in the US. "I was in demand, and people were always wanting to fly me places in the middle of the night." Although he is a self-proclaimed "24-hour man" this was too much. And he also realised he had missed his family growing up. "I had a son, then next thing I know I see him standing on a diving board. I thought, 'Where has the time gone?'"

But if he is much in demand in his 82nd year, he is also much appreciated. "The school I teach at gave me an 80th birday party a couple of years ago. There was a band of guys from town who played. I thought I was like [baseball legend] Lou Gehrig!" Askey was also nominated for Citizen of the Year. His take on this renown is simple: "My contribution to life is to make people happy….anyone can sit down in front of the TV, drink beer, smoke and die. That's not what I wanted to do."

With such an incredible wealth of experience, what does Gil Askey emphasise when he is teaching young people?

"I loved the music alright. Today, most young people don't know what to focus on. I try to spread ideas like having belief in yourself, be the best you can. Whatever you do, make a commitment to it. It's also about being competitive, not being left behind. If I can take a kid with a trumpet, three finger and two bits of meat – the lips – and he wants to play like Harry James or James Morrison or Louis Armstrong, he needs to make a commitment. It's like playing footy – you need to have that 50 meter kick. Every time I watch Gary Ablett, I see him make a commitment to do impossible things."

As well as his various one-off gigs, you can catch Gil Askey playing with Paul Williamson at the Mentone Hotel on Sunday afternoons between 3.30 pm and 6.30pm.

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Frogs in space

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Senate steals first

Senate committee into the Copyright Amendment bill recommended going ahead with it. The proposed amendments to the Act in the bill give consumers the right to time shift (for example, record your TV show tonight so you can watch it tomorrow) and format shift (for example, copy your CD as an MP3 so you can play it on your iPod) legally and at no cost. Despite submissions the committee (made up of players from all parties) was quite happy to steal rights from musicians and other artists with no compensation. Guess there are more punters that vote than musos.

Happy you're with AAMI?

Big ruckus at the Music Managers Forum has apparently led to a split and the formation of rival body the "Association of Artist Managers Incorporated". AAMI (not to be confused with the giant insurer) has issued a press release and has a website "coming soon". MMF doesn't mention the fracture on its website. Both sides appear to have some of the "heavy hitters". The cause of the split is unclear, but heavy odds it wasn't about making things better for musos.

Mean biker

We hear there's a Gippsland hotelier who is very happy to spend big on motorbikes but not on paying bands their agreed fee. Try saying "Pay up!" with a Yammy revving next to you!

AFL = A Furtive Lipsync

Strong whisper that all the music at the recent AFL Grand Final was mimed. The lot: band, singers, idols. That could explain the flash mix!

Rolling Stones gather some film

Film legend Martin Scorsese is making a documentary about rock dinosaurs the Rolling Stones. Word is the pic already has a major distribution deal in Japn for six figures. Scorses is notable musically for The Last Waltz, his groundbreaking documentary on The Band.

"Hey Keef! That face cream really works! I look forty years younger!"

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