Book review: His Master’s Musician by Lieut-Colonel Ian Southwell
REVIEW BY MAJOR MAL DAVIES
At the Victorian divisional ‘Seniors Celebration’ event on 9 October, a new biography was released of a Salvationist who is both an internationally renowned composer and an Order of the Founder recipient.
His Master’s Musician is subtitled ‘The life, music and ministry of Noel Jones, OF’ and was authored by Lieut-Colonel Ian Southwell. It is the seventh book he has authored or co-authored.
While Noel would be well known to Army musicians, he is far more broadly known than that. He has been involved in the Army since childhood, becoming a member of the Melbourne Staff Band and the territorial music director in the Australia Southern Territory for 14 years.
Noel has published 124 brass band pieces and 20 vocal accompaniments. He has played and taught music in Australia and overseas and has been a strong promoter of Christian music for more than 50 years. In 2014, he was awarded the Order of the Founder.
While you may think this resume makes Noel a popular and much-loved Salvationist, his character is of equal renown. Noel is known for his humility, smile, sense of humour, desire to see people know Christ and love of showing people how music can help them connect with God. Perhaps even above and beyond being an outstanding musician, he’s an outstanding Salvationist.
Ian Southwell has done well in capturing not just Noel’s musical achievements but also his personality in this book. We hear of Noel’s upbringing, musical ability development, early employment, love of sport, his beloved wife Mary and their children, and service to The Salvation Army in many ways, perhaps especially his love of teaching children musical instruments.
The book is well researched, and in the acknowledgements, the author thanks the staff of The Salvation Army Museum and archives for their assistance and many individuals who provided valuable information and advice.
At around 170 pages, it is not a large book to wade through but is written in a light and informative style, which makes it easy to read. It contains more than 40 photographs and very helpful appendices of Noel’s published music.
The book is available in two hard-copy forms (one with colour photos and one with black-and-white photos) and an e-book. It can be easily ordered from the author’s Amazon page by clicking here, where you can also view his previous releases.
