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.

DUKE ELLINGTON ORCHESTRA: OVERRIDING COMMERCIAL ELEMENT

by Eric Myers

Sydney Morning Herald, June 20, 1980

Few major concerts in Australia have so highlighted the ambiguous relationship between art and entertainment in jazz as the two concerts given by the Duke Ellington Orchestra at the Opera House on Wednesday night. Duke Ellington himself was not unaware of commercial gimmickry and, he hired musicians who, when the chips were down in live performance, could "play it pretty for the people," as Louis Armstrong said… For the Ellington Orchestra, now under the direction of Mercer Ellington, the commercial element appears to have now become the overriding rationale for the band's existence…

JACK LESMANA: MY LIFE AS A PALACE MUSICIAN

by Eric Myers

Sydney Morning Herald, June 21, 1980

When Jack Lesmana —Indonesia's most distinguished jazz musician —began as a "palace musician" in 1962, at the Bogor residence of President Sukarno, he was subtly briefed about the great man's possible reactions to music. "Before my first performance", Jack Lesmana said this week, "Sukarno's adjutant spoke to me. He said 'if the president says nothing, then he doesn't like you. But, if he shouts and is angry towards you, then he likes your music'. We started playing and Sukarno started shouting, saying that the music was too loud. He was very angry…”

KERRIE BIDDELL: HIGH ART OF WORDLESS VOCAL

by Eric Myers

Sydney Morning Herald, June 27, 1980

The beginning of a new decade has seen the rebirth of the outstanding contemporary music group, Compared To What. Contemporary music is perhaps the most apt description, for the conventional terms jazz/rock, fusion, or crossover, normally applied to such bands, are too narrow to encompass the diverse music which this group performs so brilliantly. The staple diet of Compared To What is the performance of stunning melody lines by the saxophonist Grahame Jesse in unison, or in harmony, with Kerrie Biddell's wordless vocals…