George Golla AM (born 10 May 1935 in Chorzów, Poland) is an Australian jazz guitarist. In 1959 he commenced a long-term working musical partnership with clarinetist/flautist/saxophonist Don Burrows that continued for almost forty years. On 10 June 1985, Golla was made a Member of the Order of Australia with the citation, For service to music. In 1987, The George Golla Orchestra won the inaugural ARIA Fine Arts Award category of 'Best Jazz Album' for Lush Life.
He has made hundreds of recordings, including The Don Burrows Quartet at the Sydney Opera House (1974, Cherry Pie 1017), and Steph'n'Us (1977, Cherry Pie 1032) with Stephane Grappelli during a tour with Grappelli and Burrows.
George Golla was a teacher at the Academy of Guitar in Bondi alongside Don Andrews, specializing in Jazz and Classical guitar, he wrote several books on theory, scales and the modes.
Golla was born on 10 May 1935 in Chorzów, Poland. He emigrated to Australia in the 1950s and began working in Sydney from 1957.
In 1959, he commenced a long-term working musical partnership with clarinetist/flautist/saxophonist Don Burrows that continued for almost forty years. They recorded frequently together and in quartets and other combinations; nurtured and featured many young talents including brassman/multi-instrumentalist James Morrison, drummer David Jones and countless others that they taught at the NSW Conservatorium.
He toured frequently throughout Australia and at times with international guest support artists such as vibraphonist Gary Burton in the early 1970s. He has had a long association with Brazilian musicians including Luis Bonfa and extensive performance of and many recordings of Latin American-/Brazilian- influenced jazz, including the acclaimed Bonfa Burrows Brazil (The Orchard).