Kiama owes a great deal to the late Dennis Koks, the original creator of what has grown into the Kiama Jazz & Blues Festival.

Long before the festival shaped the local cultural calendar, Dennis founded the Kiama Jazz Club and cleverly tapped into touring artists travelling between Sydney, Kiama and Melbourne, bringing world-class music to the small coastal town.

He passed peacefully at the age of 95, survived by his wife of 66 years, Hazel.

Dennis with Don Burrows.

Dennis grew up in the infamous District 6 area in Cape Town during the apartheid era in South Africa, and he understood in a profound way how essential creativity, possibility and freedom are to the human spirit.

Jazz spoke to him because jazz is freedom - a music born from resilience and expression, a sound that refuses to be boxed in.

Every improvisation is a declaration that art can transcend limitations. Dennis carried that belief everywhere he went, and he passed it on to everyone lucky enough to know him.

Festival director Becky Guggisberg said she first met Dennis as an arts teacher.

“We would hand-silkscreen posters for events (and later, for the Festival itself) with jazz playing in the studio,” she recalled.

“As students, we knew instinctively we were part of something bigger than ourselves. His enthusiasm was infectious.

“He was a true music lover, especially of jazz, and he encouraged us to dream boldly, create without fear, and build the kind of community we wanted to live in.”

Dennis gathered a group of like-minded creatives and nurtured ideas with generosity and conviction.

Together, they planted the seed that has become a cultural staple for Kiama.

His legacy lives on in every note played each March.

“I am incredibly proud to carry the Kiama Jazz & Blues Festival forward with the same breath and spark of Dennis’ original vision - one rooted in freedom, creativity and the belief that music can uplift and connect us all,” Becky added.

Dennis migrated at age 40 to Australia from South Africa in 1970 with his wife and four young children.

They initially settled in Shellharbour before moving to Kiama, teaching at Warilla and Kiama High Schools.

Over the past 10 years he resided at Blue Haven Terralong and Blue Haven Bonaira nursing home facilities “where he received excellent care”, according to his son Gary.

He played cricket and soccer at a provincial level in South Africa and was secretary and first-grade captain of Kiama Cricket Club in the 1970s.

A social tennis and table tennis player, Dennis was also an avid follower of Kiama Rugby Club and a fan of the Wallabies who represented his adopted nation.

As well as being a founding member of the Kiama Jazz Club committee, he was also a radio presenter for 27 years on 2VOXFM, a member of the Kiama Anglican Church congregation for over 50 years, the Kiama Men’s Probus Choir and dedicated time to Camp Quality and Amnesty International.

Illawarra jazz legend Eric Dunan said Dennis’ contribution to the community “has left a legacy that will continue for many years”.

“His work in establishing a jazz scene in the Illawarra via his work with the Kiama Jazz Festival, numerous presentations of international and Australian jazz concerts, and his long running radio show on 2VOX FM are well known by many.

“The foundation he laid with his labour of love paved the way for others to continue to provide music that enriches the cultural landscape of the Illawarra.

“On a personal level, I owe a debt of gratitude to Dennis as a supporter of jazz education and the establishment of the jazz program at the Wollongong Conservatorium of Music.

“He constantly stayed in touch with me over the years and encouraged and supported a program that has directly benefited so many of the outstanding young artists on the national and international music scene today.”