New Zealand-born jazz pianist and composer Judy Bailey OAM has died in Willoughby, aged 89, following a long career that shaped Australian jazz and music education.
Judy Bailey’s Passing in Willoughby
Judy Bailey died on Friday, 8 August 2025, at Estia Health Willoughby, where she had lived since 2021. Her children, Lisette and Chris De Gray, were present at the time of her passing.
Early Life and Musical Beginnings
Born Judith Mary Bailey in Auckland on 3 October 1935, she grew up in Whangārei. She began ballet lessons at seven, but shifted to piano at the age of ten. At 16, she completed the performer’s diploma at Trinity College, London.
Her early influences included jazz recordings by Fats Waller, George Shearing, and Horace Silver. By her teenage years, she was already arranging and composing for the Auckland Radio Band.
Move to Australia and Career in Sydney
Bailey relocated to Sydney in 1960, originally planning to continue to the United Kingdom. Recommended to conductor Tommy Tycho by fellow pianist Julian Lee, she became the resident pianist in the Channel 7 television orchestra.
Her first album, You and the Night and the Music, was released in 1964. She later worked with orchestras at Channel 9 and Channel 10, and collaborated with musicians such as Don Burrows, John Sangster, and Graeme Lyall.
Contributions to Music and Education
Bailey’s career extended beyond performance. She became a founding member of the jazz faculty at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in the 1970s, teaching jazz piano and composition.
She also created children’s music for ABC Radio and in 1973 began contributing to the program Kindergarten. In the early 1990s, she helped establish Jazz Connection, later serving as its musical director, mentoring young Australian musicians for more than two decades.
Her compositions were recorded across multiple labels, with her 1976 track Colour of My Dreams later sampled by US rapper Rick Ross in Santorini Greece (2017).
Recognition and Honours
Bailey received the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2004 for her services to music and education. In 2018, she was awarded the Sir Bernard Heinze Memorial Award, and in 2022, she received the Don Banks Music Award for sustained contribution to Australian music.
Family Life
In 1967, she married American bassist Richard De Gray. The couple had two children, Lisette in 1968 and Chris in 1971, before separating in the early 1970s.
Legacy
Judy Bailey is remembered as a trailblazer for women in Australian jazz, a dedicated educator, and a composer whose influence extended across generations. Her life’s work in performance, education, and mentorship left a lasting mark on the national music scene.
Published 18-Aug-2025
