DISCHORDS

JazzChord, the newsletter of the jazz co-ordination program based in Sydney, New South Wales, commenced in magazine form with  Edition No 11 (Jan/Feb, 1993). In Edition No 15 (Sep/Oct, 1993) a column called 'DisChords', usually written by Jazz Co-ordinator Eric Myers, was introduced to canvass issues that were currently alive in the jazz community. Generally it was a forum for the editor of JazzChord to air his personal views, and to document the achievements of the jazz co-ordination program. Additional photos, not possible in JazzChord, have been included.

DISCHORDS

A column by Jazz Co-ordinator Eric Myers

JazzChord, Feb/Mar, 1999

The benefit night at The Basement, Sydney, for the drummer John Pochée on January 18, 1999, was a wonderful gathering of the Sydney jazz community, with a lovely spirit in the air. About 300 people attended, and with door sales and donations, a considerable sum of money was raised for John, who’s been ill for some time and unable to work. The highlight of the evening for me was the performance of John’s great band Ten Part Invention, sharp as a razor on its return from a recent tour of Asian countries…

HELLO FROM NEW YORK

A column by Chris McNulty

JazzChord, Apr/May, 1999

This is my first column for JazzChord so I thought I'd talk about some gigs/venues that exist in New York City outside of the handful of very expensive, over-hyped clubs, which are out of reach to most jazz musicians, and which usually get covered in the press. Needless to say most Australian musicians who come to NYC are already well aware of those venues and will opt to frequent them, depending largely on their budget and whether they have a major interest in the musicians appearing there...

MEDIAWATCH

A column by Jazz Co-ordinator Eric Myers

JazzChord, Jun/Jul, 1999

The following is an unfortunate tale of how the Melbourne International Jazz Festival was treated by ABC-TV. In December 1997, Paul Grabowsky was a member of the Board of the Melbourne International Jazz Festival (MIJF), and also commissioning editor for Arts & Entertainment, ABC TV. Paul decided that the inaugural MIJF program, in early 1998, was strong enough for ABC TV to film it. Accordingly artistic director Adrian Jackson negotiated with several artists (as chosen by the ABC) re permission for filming. The American guitarist James 'Blood' Ulmer was the only one who withheld permission, as he had wanted a higher fee. Fees were paid to the artists direct by ABC TV; no fee was paid to the Festival…