Eric Myers was jazz critic for the Sydney Morning Herald 1980-1982, and for The Australian 1983-1987. He was publisher & editor of the Australian Jazz Magazine 1981-1986. After 20 years as a government-funded Jazz Co-ordinator 1983-2002, he returned to writing on jazz for The Australian in 2015, where he is now the jazz albums reviewer. He has a website dedicated to documenting Australian jazz history at www.ericmyersjazz.com
Liechtenstein is a tiny landlocked principality situated between Austria and Switzerland where the language spoken is Swiss-German. It’s only 25km long and has a small population of just over 40,000. In Australian terms, it’s no larger than, say, Townsville in …
Above pic Hetty Kate… Photo credit Nikol Obrova
Hearing Hetty Kate at her last performance at The Lounge in December, 2024 was a revelation. Her then immaculate performance had me looking forward with great anticipation to her return to the …
Situated on the corner of Shepherd and Knox streets, Chippendale, one finds the Knox Street Bar. The building has been owned for over 30 years by the sculptor and photographer Bjorn Godwin, who converted what was originally a garage …
Well, GOOD FORTUNE is certainly not an art film. On one level, it’s a rather quaint romp, which has its good points, and is often mildly amusing. Certainly members of the preview audience were prompted to laugh out loud at …
Pic Melanie Charles… Photo credit Shane Rozario
When a musical artist such as Brooklyn-born Melanie Charles is promoted as “renowned for her genre-blending fusion of jazz, soul, and R&B, layered with electronics and samples”, one doesn’t quite know what to …
Pic Samara Joy… Photo credit Shane Rozario
The 25-year-old American singer Samara Joy, nominally the headline artist of theSydney International Women’s Jazz Festival (SIWJF) performed under somewhat difficult circumstances: she had come down with a respiratory infection in advance of …
Pic Hiromi… Photo credit Shane Rozario
The combination of a jazz pianist and a string quartet is by no means new. One thinks for example of Chick Corea’s album My Spanish Heart which Australian pianist Joe Chindamo says introduc…
Pic Major Zulu… Photo credit Natasha Killeen
When I last reviewed Major Zulu in November, 2022, on the occasion of her closing the Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival at Foundry 616, she had a beautiful band of young jazz musicians …
The works presented at this splendid concert, Beethoven’s violin concerto and Schubert’s Symphony No 4 were united by a common factor: both works were relatively unsuccessful during the lifetimes of the composers, and only came to the fore well after …
In October, 2017, I first heard singer Gregg Arthur on his CD Last Call which I reviewed for The Australian. Subsequently I heard him at the Camelot Lounge, where I was mightily impressed by his live singing on stage. …