Australian music loses Hummingbirds’ Simon Holmes, jazz identity Graham Wood

Australian music this weeklost two identities – Simon Holmes of Sydney band The Hummingbirds, and Perth jazz identity Graham Wood.

Holmes’ passing was confirmed by his son Milo St Clare Holmes on Facebook, with details kept brief.

“Please keep your focus on his whole life when you speak of him rather than one moment of his life,” hecommented on the social media platform.

“Our hearts are broken,”The Hummingbirds posted.

Born in 1962 in Canberra, Holmes studied at the alternative education institution AME School.

He moved to Sydney in the early 1980s, forming The Hummingbirds in 1986 and playing guitar, singing and writing songs for the group.

Their jingle jangle sound and quality songs saw them acclaimed as one of the best to emerge from the Sydney inner city scene alongside Ratcat, Clouds, Tall Tales and True and The Falling Joys.

After four singles through Phanrom Records, they were an early signing to Chis Murphy’s rooArt Records. Their single ’Blush’ broke into the mainstream charts and peaked at #19, and albums loveBUZZ (1989) and Va Va Voom (1991) were produced by US producer Mitch Easter.

The Hummingbirds broke up in 1993 but reunited periodically – in 2011 for Big Day Out, last July for shows around Sydney, and earlier this year as part of a Cure tribute show.

Holmes also ran the alternative culture and bookshop Half a Cow in Glebe, and its offshoot record label. In 2004 he was in Her Name In Lights, who released their debut album Into The Light Again on Laughing Outlaw Records. Holmes also played bass and keyboards, and produced the record.

New music was apparently in the works, according to collaborator and friend Tim Byron.

Perth jazz identity Graham Wood loses battle with cancer

Award-winning pianist Wood has lost a four-year battle with cancer, passing away at age 46.

Wood co-owned Perth club The Ellington Jazz Club, founded the Perth International Jazz Festival and had a 30-year involvement with the Western Australian Academy of Performing Art.

Beginning as a lecturer on jazz piano in 2001, he became Head of the Jazz Department in 2005, Program Director of Music in mid-2006, and then Program Director of Music.

Wood completed his PhD at The University of Western Australia School of Music, andsubmitted his thesis entitled “Factors affecting the performance wellness of Jazz pianists in practice and performance”in 2010.

2013 would prove to be one of the most eventful for Wood – he was named asa finalist for the 2013 Western Australian of the Year award, set up the first Perth International Jazz Festival and contracted gastroenteritis while touring in Indonesia for the International Java Jazz Festival.

Unable to shake the sickness, tests later revealed that he had cholangiocarcinoma, an aggressive and rare form of cancer more common in people over 60.

While the disease caused nerve damage in three fingers, Wood was already making plans, including a second Perth jazz festival and to write and record his sixth album.

At the time he commented, “They say jazz musos don’t hit their straps until their 40’s and I am 42, so it’s time”.

In announcing his passing yesterday, Wood’s family wrote, “He was a breathtaking musician, an accomplished academic and a savvy entrepreneur.

“The last four years of his life after his diagnosis cancer have been a gift and in this time he has managed to achieve more than many of us would wish to do in a lifetime.”