ABSTRACT
The invention of bebop in the 1940s was a significant development for jazz. This new style was intoxicating: with its flamboyant displays of virtuosity and musical complexity, it boldly demanded that jazz be taken seriously, as more than a popular style or passing fad or musical curiosity. The acceptance of jazz into the Australian academy presented musicians, audiences, and critics alike with something to react to—to push against—and this resistance took on particularly local manifestations. One of the clearest and most influential expressions of a creative counter-current that ran parallel to what was happening at the Conservatorium was the work of the keys music association (KMA). Although the KMA officially began organizing, presenting, and promoting music in 1979, the group’s origins lie in the early 1970s when its founding members were still at school.
