Harmonising History: Quality Instruments Since 1938 at KJ Music

Our rich history…

Kurt Jacob & Co. Pty. Ltd. was founded in Sydney in 1938 when Kurt Jacob (1911 – 1997) was sent to Australia by M. Hohner to manage the importation, distribution and sales of Hohner Harmonicas and Accordions in Australia and the Southern Pacific region, including parts of Asia. The company remains a family-run business, though Kurt sold it to the Smits family in 1981.

Kurt was an employee and family friend of Hohner and was a talented and dedicated musician who had played piano with the Munich Symphony and Chamber Orchestra. Hohner’s Harmonicas had been selling extremely well in Australia in the 1920s and ’30s (Frank Albert of Albert & Sons, who made the Boomerang brand of harmonicas, did so well from the harmonica craze that he was able to build the deco-style mansion “Boomerang” in Elizabeth Bay). The Hohner company felt it needed some representation here. Kurt also found things increasingly difficult in 1930s Germany due to his faith. The Hohner family smuggled Kurt to London via Switzerland in 1936, and he arrived in Melbourne in 1937, where he immediately began work promoting Hohner’s products, including the then-new Hohner Chromonica. He travelled the length and breadth of the country, often by plane or train but mostly by car.

The Second World War interrupted business, and Kurt went to Sydney, joining his family there, and worked in an aircraft factory. In 1948, with Hohner back in production in Germany, he re-established the company in Sydney at 110 Bathurst St (the Albert Building – an ironic if unintentional twist since Alberts was to cease production of the Boomerang brand within a few years). After a fire in that premises in 1949, the company moved to Market St and continued to expand. Kurt was renowned for his generosity and unflinching dedication to music and the harmonica in particular.

Kurt continued to build the company and the Hohner brand for the next 30 years or more, with Hohner increasingly becoming the dominant brand worldwide.

The Smits family continues the tradition…

Johannes (Jan) Smits, with his wife Maria and a young family, emigrated from the Netherlands in 1956. Jan had worked with the Schenkelaars Company in Eindhoven where he had been making and repairing brass instruments. Initially, he worked for Palings in George St, Sydney. He then set up a workshop at the rear of the family home in Eastwood, where eldest son Jac joined him to learn the trade after finishing school in 1964. In 1968, Jan and Jac established the retail store and repair workshop, Smits Music, on Rowe Street, Eastwood. Hans joined the business in 1970, and in 1972, Frank also joined the business; following the death of their father, Jan. Hans had worked with Palings for several years, and Frank had worked for Rose Music, which later became Yamaha Music Australia.

After many successful years, they purchased Kurt Jacob and Company in January 1981. At that stage, the Company’s main business was Hohner and Sonor educational products. Since that time, the catalogue has expanded considerably to include Trevor James Woodwind & Brass, Denis Wick, Buffet-Crampon, Besson, Vancore Percussion, Humes & Berg Mutes, Hofner Guitars, Aulos and Moeck recorders, Wisemann, Nuvo school wind instruments, Selmer Paris mouthpieces, Wallace mutes plus many support lines of accessories.

In 2000, the focus was centred on developing and enlarging the wholesale distribution business. After many successful years and a legacy of 3 generations of the family working at the store, Smits Music closed its doors for the final time.

Today, KJ Music has eight staff at their head office in Prospect and three mobile sales staff servicing our network of retailers throughout Australia, as well as continuing the instrument repair business, specialising in brass and woodwind and harmonica and accordion repairs.