ERIC MYERS REVIEWS 1980-87
Eric Myers was the Sydney Morning Herald’s inaugural jazz critic, his first review appearing on February 2, 1980. This folder contains reviews and articles written by Myers up to his resignation in 1982. Text published in the newspaper is reproduced here, with the addition of photographs which may or may not have appeared in the newspaper. In 1983 Myers moved to The Australian, where he was that paper’s jazz critic, until he resigned towards the end of 1987. His reviews for that newspaper appear also in this folder. Articles which appeared in other publications are included here, if they serve to document the performances of Australian jazz musicians. Readers can click on the INDEX button for a list of reviews or articles in this folder.
Clare Bail
JAS CONCERT PRESENTS MULTIPLE JAZZ
by Eric Myers
Encore magazine, December, 1981
There is one thing I can say about the monthly concert presented by the Jazz Action Society of NSW: the programming is usually inspired, and I always come away glad to have learnt something, or having heard something new. On November 3 we had the chance to hear two groups whose music was so different that we would need very flexible concepts to include them both under the heading "jazz"…
John Sangster
RECORD REVIEWS: JOHN SANGSTER; BOB BERTLES/PAUL MCNAMARA DUO
by Eric Myers
Australian Penthouse, December, 1981
The cover notes for the album Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Doo-Wup Doo-Wup Doo-Wup Doo-Wup (Rain Forest Records) make no mention of Duke Ellington. Yet this LP, consisting of nine original compositions by Australia's prolific jazz composer John Sangster, could only have been conceived with the Ellington legacy in mind. I say this, not only because Ellington wrote It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing, from which Sangster derives the album title and, from the lyrics of the song, many of the ideas for his tune titles. There are good musical reasons too…
Sammy Davis Jr
SAMMY DAVIS: A CONVERSATION WITH LEN
by Eric Myers
Sydney Morning Herald, December 2, 1981
Arriving home on Monday night, I encountered my neighbour Len, an ocker-style, left-wing intellectual who can't stand Sammy Davis. On hearing that I had been to the opening performance of the American entertainer, he was cynical. The media had shamelessly hopped on to the Sammy Davis publicity bandwagon, he said. It was grovelling and obsequious. Still, he was curious about the show…