JAZZ ALBUM REVIEWS IN THE AUSTRALIAN
In September, 2017 Eric Myers commenced reviewing jazz albums in the Review supplement of The Weekend Australian. All reviews in this folder are written by Myers.
JAZZ
WILDLIFE
STEFANO ROCCO QUARTET
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Independent
Four stars
Published in the Weekend Australian, June 28, 2025
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The Italian-born Stefano Rocco studied classical guitar as a child before taking up electric guitar in his teens, concentrating on rock, blues and fusion. Moving to London in 2009, he studied, played with many bands, and did studio work, and after shifting to Sydney in 2014 he formed his quartet in 2021. Wildlife, the group’s second album, is very impressive, the opposite of rough around the edges, with faultless sound balance. While Rocco inhabits Pat Metheny territory, his brilliant rhythm section — Muhamed Mehmedbasic (double bass), Ed Rodrigues (drums) and Nick Southcott (piano) — provides a variety of excellent time-feels that maximise the album’s jazz content. Rocco says that he “decided to use animal traits as a starting point to explore a diverse range of emotions”, so each of the seven tracks is dedicated to a particular animal: Cat Walk, Dreamy Koala, Elephant Stomp, etc. This album is not particularly innovative, but at the same time it’s completely satisfying, encouraging the feeling that, when local jazz musicians are playing so beautifully, all is well in the world.
Eric Myers
JAZZ
DEPARTURES
LACHLAN MCKENZIE
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ABC Music
Four stars
Published in the Weekend Australian, July 12, 2025
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Trumpeter Lachlan McKenzie’s album is an excellent example of contemporary hard-bop. Hearing this quintet reminded me somewhat of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, in that drummer George Greenhill’s style is reminiscent of the legendary Blakey - busy, dynamic, tasteful. Others are Lachy Hamilton (tenor sax), Wilbur Whitta (piano), and Jacob Graham (double bass), all key members of the current generation of young Sydney musicians who’ve been defining modern jazz at a new level in recent years. McKenzie, born and bred in Brisbane but Sydney-based since 2021, took seven years to write his seven tunes, and his depth of thought shows. The written heads are exceedingly hip, and their chord structures enable all improvisers to project strong individual personalities. The ballad written by Whitta, entitled Wilbur’s Creation, played as a solo piano piece, provides a welcome contrast to McKenzie’s works. This exciting and swinging album shows how a relatively old but still essential jazz idiom can be updated via the sensibilities of brilliant contemporary players.
Eric Myers
JAZZ
IN MY OWN LITTLE WORLD
ELLIOT LAMB
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ABC Jazz
Four stars
Published in the Weekend Australian, August 2, 2025
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This album from Melbourne trombonist, composer and bandleader Elliot Lamb further explores his journey as a nonbinary and transmasculine musician. An overwhelmingly gentle album from an excellent octet, it undermines the myth that contemporary jazz needs to be strident. Trumpeter Niran Dasika, while playing impressive, technically brilliant improvisations, effectively stays within the boundaries of the music that are in force here. The titles of Lamb’s eight works suggest a fascinating hidden agenda. Anemoia, defined as a longing for a past that exists only in your imagination rather than the one you personally experienced, is a serious affliction of mine, so I was immediately drawn to Lamb’s composition of the same name. Notably it features a very beautiful piano solo from Selene Messinis. Other highly talented musicians include Flora Carbo (alto sax), Shaun Rammers (tenor sax), Rowan Pattison (guitar), Oscar Neyland (double bass) & Maddison Carter (drums). This joyous album, further evidence of the current flowering of Australian jazz, is unlike anything I’ve heard before, but is well in the pocket of the jazz tradition.
Eric Myers