Eric Myers Jazz

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.

THE NORTHSIDE BIG BAND

by Eric Myers

Jazz Action Society of NSW Newsletter, December, 1981

I heard this concert by the Northside Big Band live in the Musicians' Club. In writing this review, however, I was able to indulge in an unusual luxury: I was given a tape of the performance, recorded by the sound technician Noel Lightfoot. Hearing the music again on tape proved to be a sobering experience. For a start, it made me think twice about the extreme subjectivity of music reviewing…

BARBARA CANHAM: EVOKING THE SPIRIT OF BILLIE HOLIDAY

by Eric Myers

Sydney Morning Herald, December 3, 1981

Billie Holiday — perhaps the greatest singer in jazz history - died in 1959, but her spirit is alive today in the work of the splendid singer Barbara Canham. At a new jazz venue, The Jazzbah, on Friday night, she gave the classic Billie Holiday repertoire a solid workout — tunes such as I Cried for You, Easy Living, Lover Man, My Old Flame, Mean to Me... Barbara Canham's style is not unlike Billie's. She has a similar bittersweet vibrato, and a rare ability to float comfortably over the rhythm section's pulse. In short, she is a very good singer indeed…

SONNY STITT: GIANT OF THE BEBOP ERA

by Eric Myers

Sydney Morning Herald, December 5, 1981

The African-American saxophonist Sonny Stitt, 57, has been on the fringe of greatness since the early 1940s. Stitt, who will perform in Sydney next week, was in the top echelons of American jazz as a teenager. He played with all the giants of the bebop era including the Billy Eckstine band, once described as the cradle of bebop… Stitt recorded with the alto saxophonist Charlie Parker and the pianist Bud Powell, two of the essential innovators. He was, in fact, a titan of the bebop period who carried the banner of the new music into the 1950s and, after the death of Parker in 1955, on into the modern era…