Roger Janes was born in Bristol, England on 24 May 1942, and in 1951 he and his brother Peter emigrated to Australia with their parents. They lived initially in Bathurst (NSW), but soon moved to Noble Park, Melbourne, where Roger attended Springvale High School. He always wanted to be an artist and a musician and was encouraged by his pianist father, who taught both of the boys to play music.

Roger bought a trombone when he was about 17 and formed a jazz trio to play at the Victoria Hotel, Colac in 1963. In that same year he attended the 18th annual Australian Jazz Convention in Melbourne where he met other enthusiastic musicians and in 1964 he joined the Melbourne-based Penfield Jazz Band.

Soon he also realised his ambition to become an artist, studying art at the National Gallery School working in the art department of Clemengers advertising agency.

Roger joined the Yarra Yarra Jazz Band in 1965 to play with them for a couple of years before moving to Sydney in 1967, where he stayed a year or so before moving again - this time back to England where he played with John Keane's Jazz Band in Putney.

The Yarra Yarra Jazz Band played in London in March 1969 as part of their UK / Europe / USA tour and Roger rejoined the band, returning with them to Melbourne in October 1971. He stayed with the Yarra Yarra band for five years, then in 1976 moved to Sydney to join Geoff Bull's Olympia Jazz Band.

Roger formed his own jazz band in 1978, opening at Balmain's Unity Hall Hotel, where the band still plays every Friday night, having set an Australian record for long-running jazz gigs.

In addition to running his own band, Roger freelanced with other bands - including Tom Baker's Chicago Seven - and played at most of Sydney's famous jazz spots. He has appeared at many Australian festivals and has also toured in Japan, New Zealand, UK, USA and Europe.

Moving to Callala Bay on the NSW South Coast in 1990, Roger continued to play jobs in Sydney and Newcastle, commuting each week. It was near his home, on 8 August 2000, that Roger was helping to change a wheel on his van and was hit by another vehicle, suffering multiple leg injuries.

Roger had several operations for reconstructive leg surgery at Wollongong Hospital and his stay there was long and painful, exposing him to illnesses unrelated to his injuries. He was seriously ill for most of the time and was constantly in and out of intensive care. His job at the Unity Hall was held by the band, pending his recovery but finally the trauma and pain became too much, his condition deteriorated and he died in hospital on 7 March 2001.

His funeral on 14 March 2001, at St Marys Anglican Church, Balmain was attended by over 300 mourners and followed by a long musical 'wake' at the Unity Hall Hotel, Balmain.

Roger Janes was an affable, positive man who had dedicated his life to jazz and art. His happy Kid Ory-inspired trombone, Western Swing singing style and newly-found passion for the Hawaiian guitar will be missed.

He is survived by his mother Effie, brother Peter, ex-wife Angela, sons Tor and Lars and his partner of ten years, Christine Vella.

The world is a sadder place with Roger's passing and I dedicate this page as a proper memorial to my great and good friend.