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.
JAZZ: THE AUSTRALIAN ACCENT
by John Shand
Reviewed by Miriam Zolin
jazz.org, October 31, 2008
I do not envy John Shand the decisions he had to make when choosing musicians to talk to for subject matter in his new book Jazz: The Australian Accent. There are so many good ones. So many stories; so much to say. The premise of the book is to ask and answer the question: is there such a thing as Australian jazz or is there just jazz made in Australia?
AUSTRALIAN JAZZ REAL BOOK
Edited by Tim Nikolsky
Reviewed by Ian Patterson
www.allaboutjazz.com, March, 2013
It's been five years in the making, but finally, Melbourne guitarist Tim Nikolsky's one-man crusade to assemble an Australian Jazz Real Book (AJRB) has succeeded. In fact, as Nikolsky related n a 2011 interview with All About Jazz, it's been a fairly democratic process, with a wide cross-section of Australian jazz musicians and educators canvassed for their suggested tune selections in an on-line survey or by telephone…
THE AUSTRALIAN JAZZ EXPLOSION
by Mike Williams. Photographs by Jane March
Reviewed by Eric Myers
Sydney Morning Herald, August 22, 1981
In Quadrant last year Clement Semmler described the pianist Col Nolan as “the most dynamic keyboard artist in Australian jazz today.” Yet, the last time I saw Nolan, earlier this year, he had just left the group Galapagos Duck, and was working as a courier. While some wits might regard this as an example of upward social mobility, it illustrates how madcap and unpredictable is the world of Australian jazz. What normal, intelligent person would take on a career in such a shaky profession?