an all female band continued to perform until 1949 when the big band sound began to lose favour with the public. Jazz in the 1970s A very significant development in 1973 was the inception of the jazz studies course at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the first jazz course to be offered by an Australian tertiary institution. The then Director of the Sydney Conservatorium, Rex Hobcroft, was approached by jazz musician Don Burrows about the idea of putting together a jazz studies course. Radio station Fine Music Sydney (then known as 2MBS) was launched in 1974 and would broadcast jazz music to this day. Ultimately American saxophonist and music educator Howie Smith was brought to Sydney on a grant from the Fulbright Program to set up the course. The grant was originally for 9 months but Howie Smith ended up staying for three years, and as well as his involvement with the Conservatorium he also became very active in the Sydney jazz scene, mostly with the group Jazz Co/op which also included local musicians Roger Frampton (piano), Jack Thorncraft (bass) and Phil Treloar (drums). When The Basement opened its doors it became Sydney's major jazz club during the seventies, and its success encouraged many other venue owners to hire jazz groups. Jazz producer Horst Liepolt, who was booking bands for The Basement, became very active at that time and he set in motion a number of jazz venues and events, including The Manly Jazz Festival, Jazz at the Sydney Festival and his own series of jazz concerts titled "Music is an Open Sky". Horst Liepolt also set up the 44 record label (a subsidiary of Phonogram records) which recorded over 30 albums of local jazz. He also organised numerous successful concerts at many of Sydney's high-profile entertainment venues including the Sydney Opera House and the Regent Theatre. This major resurgence of Australian jazz took place mostly in Sydney, but it had some flow-on effects in the jazz scene throughout Australia. Many jazz musicians came to Sydney from other areas of Australia during this decade, either to perform at special concerts or in some cases to live permanently and pursue a career in music. There was also a more than usual interest for jazz in Melbourne during the 1970s. Jazz performances were included in the Moomba Festival and Melbourne jazz musicians such as Tony Gould, Brian Brown, Bob Sedergreen and Ted