Judy Bailey (pianist)

Judith Mary Bailey (3 October 1935 – 8 August 2025) was a New Zealand-born pianist, classical jazz musician, composer, arranger and senior lecturer who lived in Australia from 1960. Life and career Bailey was born in Auckland on 3 October 1935, and raised in Whangārei. As a young child she learned ballet, followed by piano and theory when she was 10 years old. She graduated from Trinity College London when she was 16. Bailey moved to Australia in 1960, spending most of her time in Sydney. She performed on TV, music venues such as the El Rocco, and on many recordings. In 1973, Bailey became the pianist on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation children’s radio show Kindergarten, which often featured presenters from Play School In 2017, rapper Rick Ross with producer Bink sampled Bailey’s “Colour of My Dreams” from the Judy Bailey Quartet album Colours. The sample was used on Ross’s track “Santorini Greece” on the album Rather You Than Me. Bailey was a represented artist of the Australian Music Centre. She died in Willoughby, Sydney, New South Wales on 8 August 2025, at the age of 89. Discography Albums Awards and honours *2004: Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) “for service to