The Daryl McKenzie Jazz Orchestra began in the early 80’s under the direction of Graeme Lyall and after a number of name changes, Daryl McKenzie has directed the band, which have been critically acclaimed for their superb musicianship and polished professionalism.

During the 90’s as the house band for the Nine Network’s “Hey Hey It’s Saturday”, Daryl's band performed with international artists such as Tom Jones, Joe Cocker, Barry Manilow, Bonnie Raitt, Trisha Yearwood, BB King and Randy Crawford; as well as Australian artists such as Tina Arena, Human Nature, Tommy Emmanuel and James Morrison. The band has toured internationally to the USA and Malaysia and also performed to large concert audiences in Perth, Adelaide, Darwin, Sydney, Gold Coast and was featured at the North Queensland Jazz Festival in Mackay, Jazz in the Vineyards at the Morning Star Estate, The Melbourne International Brass Festival (with Bill Watrous) and the Castlemaine State Festival. The DMJO has also been recorded on the soundtracks of several movies such as “Bran Nue Dae”, “Death Defying Acts”, “The Wogboy”, “Two Hands”, “Love and Other Catastrophes”and “Bootmen”.