Meanwhile his musical abilities continued. At the age of 28, he took up trombone and later the cello, bassoon and recorders. He studied composition, harmony and counterpoint at the Adelaide Conservatorium. During 1944 and 1945 at the Dallwitz home in Adelaide there where regular weekend parties attended by artists, musicians and intellectuals. Much traditional jazz was played and composed during this time.

In 1945 Dallwitz joined up as trombonist with a group of Adelaide musicians. In 1946, with some reshuffling and with Dallwitz as leader, arranger and trombonist, this became the Southern Jazz Group. They stayed together for six years and, beginning in 1947, made a number of recordings which are now regarded as classics in Australian jazz. The members in 1950 were Dave Dallwitz, Ade Monsbourgh, Bill Munro, Bruce Gray, Johnny Malpas, Bob Wright, Rob Foreman, Many of these early recordings and subsequent recordings are issued on Nevill Sherburn's Swaggie Record label.

Although he was working in an idiom that had been standardized during the 1920s, Dave Dallwitz's concepts were strikingly progressive. He sometimes utilized a larger number of musicians than was usual in traditional bands, and scored interesting ideas for the reeds. Also, he blended ideas derived. from ragtime with impressionistic ideas from various sources. Following Ellington, he thought in terms of the particular sound and improvising ability of individual musicians, especially Ade Monsbourgh, the gifted multi-instrumentalist who participated in many of these recordings. The music which resulted did not merely imitate New Orleans jazz, it brilliantly captured an original Australian mood.

In 1950, after a successful recording session in Sydney

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