Don Andrews (musician)
Don Andrews (29 May 1929 – 5 March 2012) was a prominent Australian guitarist, composer, session musician and music educator.
Biography
Born 29 May 1929, Andrews took up the violin as a child but began studying the guitar seriously at the age of 10. His early influences included Phillip Skinner, with whom he studied the guitar in his early days, Ralph Skinner, an American arranger attached to a U.S Army Band stationed for a time in Sydney during World War II, and John Collins, guitarist with Nat King Cole.
In a career that covered more than 6 decades, Andrews became one of the most prominent guitarists in Australia in the late 20th century, accompanying many local and visiting artists both in concert and on recordings. Among the artists he worked with are Rex Stewart, William Clauson, Fred Hartley, Jay Wilbur, Bela Kanitz, The Le Garde Twins, Burl Ives, Larry Adler, Eric Jupp, Isador Goodman, Winifred Atwell and Mel Torme. In the 1960s he was a frequent accompanist on recordings by popular Australian folk performer Lionel Long.