BOOK REviewS
This section includes reviews of books on jazz subjects by a number of writers. Reviewers interested in contributing are welcome to contact the editor by filling out the form in the CONTACT tab. When contributing please include the title of the book and its author, the name of the publisher, the date of publication, the book’s ISBN number, and the number of pages in the book. Please also provide, if possible, a high resolution scan of the book’s cover. Readers can click on the INDEX button for a list of reviews in this folder.
JOIN ‘EM ON THE RIFF: JAZZ MUSINGS IN METRE
by Alwyn Lewis
Reviewed by Richard B Kamins
Cadence: The Independent Journal of Creative Improvised Music, July 1997
Join ‘Em On The Riff is a group of short poems; reflections of the author, Alwyn Lewis, on the many musicians that she has met through her work with husband, Laurie Lewis. The two writers have collaborated on over 50 interviews printed in this magazine, interviews from their vantage point in Australia. There are 30 short pieces in the slim volume. None are longer than a page… but all approach their subject with respect. Each poem is accompanied by a photograph and short biography...
JAZZ: THE AUSTRALIAN ACCENT \
by John Shand
Reviewed by Andrew W Hurley
Extempore I, November 2008
John Shand tells us that in the past 15 years there have been approximately one thousand CDs of Australian jazz released! A veritable boom, albeit one more or less restricted to the ‘jazz scene’, the crossover success of The Necks notwithstanding. Whilst his book focuses on musicians active during this period—and thereby extends beyond the existing literature, notably John Clare’s path-breaking, and more historically conceived Bodgie Dada (1995)—it does not attempt to catalogue these developments in an encyclopaedic fashion. Rather he gives detailed portraits of 17 select musicians...
THE LION ROARS: THE MUSICAL LIFE OF WILLIE ‘THE LION’ McINTYRE
by Phil Sandford
Reviewed by Eric Myers
The Australian, November 3, 2018
Phil Sandford’s The Lion Roars is a reminder of how vibrant the Melbourne jazz scene was in the late 30s and early 40s, as an unprecedented generation of talented young musicians emerged. Strong personalities, they created a sub-culture with such capital that, in the immediate post-World War II years, jazz was first cab off the rank in taking Australian music, indeed Australiana, to the rest of the world…