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.

TONY BENNETT: THE BALLADEER AT HIS BEST

by Eric Myers

The Australian, August 4, 1987

In an immaculately smooth opening to his Sydney season American singer Tony Bennett, 61 this week, showed that traditional cabaret, no matter how successful in the past, is now moving with the times. In a music video age where many people find the lyrics of a song incomprehensible without something to look at, utilising a screen to provide film clips and still photographs seems a natural extension of what, in the past, would have been the static presentation of mere music…

FORTE FANS FAIL TO THROW RALPH SUTTON OUT OF HIS STRIDE

by Eric Myers

The Australian, August 10, 1987

In his first Sydney performance, the American pianist Ralph Sutton played some terrific jazz but, for much of the evening, it was an uphill battle. Conspiring against him was the notoriously noisy Basement audience. Throughout the evening there appeared to be two simultaneous events in the room: verbal dialogue, perpetrated by rampant talkers; and musical dialogue — a far more subtle process — inherent in Sutton’s art. The situation eventually called for a quiet comment, which Sutton delivered during the second set: “If you shut up for a minute, you might learn something”. When this drew applause from his avid listeners, Sutton’s follow-up rejoinder was a gem: “If that ain’t a fair deal, I’ll kiss your ass”…

JAMES MORRISON: A HERO’S WELCOME HOME

by Eric Myers

The Australian, November 2, 1987

When a concert featuring local jazz stars virtually fills the Sydney Town Hall, drawing some 2,000 people, then there is something unusual happening in what is still a minority art form. The multi-instrumentalist James Morrison has just returned from six months in the US and Europe where, according to all reports, he had great impact — the first such explosive impact for an Australian since the Australian Jazz Quintet lived and worked in the US in the 1950s…