A riff of kindness

Alumnus Stuart Ross reflects on jazz, the kindness of a stranger and his inspiration to give back.

I grew up in a small country town called Murwillumbah listening to old jazz records my mother used to play. Unfortunately, there were very few jazz musicians in town but I was lucky enough to meet a great jazz piano teacher who taught me the fundamentals of jazz. He was the only jazz musician I knew.

Wanting to further my career as a jazz pianist, I successfully applied to the Canberra School of Music at ANU. I needed to spend a year in preparation to catch up with my fellow students and get use to playing with other musicians. Once in the School's diploma course, although greatly enjoying the experience, I found it difficult to make ends meet. I wasn't able to receive Austudy and my parents weren't able to support me. So I spoke with the then head of the Jazz Department, Don Johnson about my situation. He sympathised with me and mentioned the Michael Foster Scholarship. I applied for it and was lucky enough to be its 1994 recipient. The prize allowed me to buy a Rhodes piano so I could start performing professionally and earn money to support myself through the course.

The generosity bestowed on me through this scholarship meant that I was able to complete my diploma successfully. My father, a former banana farmer, flew down from far north New South Wales to see my graduating performance. He was very proud of me and what I had achieved. My mother, who was the one that had started me off on the musical path and loved hearing me play, was no longer around but my father felt that she was at my performance in spirit and would have been just as proud of me as he was.

During my time at ANU I started a jazz/funk band called Elephunk. Using my Rhodes piano we were able to do gigs and save enough money to record our first album. After completing the album, we donated a copy to the Michael Foster Music Collection at the Jazz School. I wanted to make sure I contributed to the collection. Many an afternoon I would sit and listen to the albums that it held, receiving great inspiration for creating my own music.

I am now a professional musician in London. Recently I was reflecting on how the kindness of a stranger, Michael Foster, made such a positive impact on my music career. It was this memory that helped me decide to create the Stuart Ross Jazz Prize which was awarded for the first time in 2010. I hope that my prize has given the recipient the freedom to play the music that they love—bringing them the same joy that I have been lucky enough to experience from jazz.