Eric Myers Jazz

AJAZZ ARTICLES & REVIEWS 2019-

This folder contains reviews and articles written by Eric Myers for the Australian Jazz Museum’s magazine AJAZZ. Myers commenced writing occasional pieces for the magazine in November, 2019. Readers may click on the INDEX button for a list of reviews and articles in this folder. Click on the title of any review or article that you wish to read.

JAMES RYAN LIVE IN MUMBAI

Album review by Eric Myers

AJAZZ 93, May, 2022

This album, featuring four virtuosic Australian jazz musicians, was recorded in Mumbai, India, in 2009, but released on Rippa Recordings only in July, 2020. An outstanding album, full of  inspired playing, it should be better known. It resulted from an invitation extended to Australian saxophonist James Ryan to bring a group to India, on the Bay of Bengal in eastern India, for the fourth edition of the Chennai Jazz Festival. This festival took place over three days, with a mix of workshops, interactive sessions and performances…

THE BEAUTY OF THE WAY AND THE GOODNESS OF THE WAYFARERS

Album review by Eric Myers

AJAZZ 93, May, 2022

For some reason, I’ve always been drawn to the music of Tim Stevens. His distinctive appeal as a jazz pianist dates from his emergence in the 90s with the Browne Haywood Stevens Trio, with drummer Allan Browne and bassist Nick Haywood. Their two albums King, Dude & Dunce (1995) and Sudden in a Shaft of Sunlight (1998) impressed many people, including the artistic director of Italy’s prestigious Umbria Jazz festival, Carlo Pagnotta, an influential figure in international jazz. While in Australia in 2000, Pagnotta heard the two BHS trio albums in my car as I drove him around Sydney from place to place over several days. Later he heard the trio live at Wangaratta, and invited Stevens to bring the group to the next Umbria Jazz, to take place in Perugia, Italy, in July, 2001…

SUSAN GAI DOWLING & CARL DEWHURST

Album review by Eric Myers

AJAZZ 94, August, 2022

This brief album, entitled Susan Gai Dowling & Carl Dewhurst, and totalling 18 minutes of music, contains four original compositions. Dewhurst has provided music and lyrics for three of them - Bernie, Wrap Me Up Inside, and Be At Peace – while Dowling does the same for the composition Hush. Of major interest is Bernie, a moving tribute to the enigmatic alto saxophonist Bernie McGann, who died in 2013. It’s a gentle, lilting waltz with sparing lyrics…