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 text of articles published in the newspaper up to Myers’s resignation in 1982. Photographs which may or may not have appeared in the newspaper have been added. From 1983 Myers was The Australian’s jazz critic until his resignation in 1987. His reviews for that newspaper also appear in this folder. Articles which appeared in other publications are also included, if they serve to document the performances of Australian jazz musicians. Headings which appeared in the newspapers were always written by sub-editors. The most excruciating of them have been modified, but mostly they are reproduced as they appeared in newspapers. Readers can click on the INDEX button for a list of reviews or articles in this folder.

STAN GETZ: JAZZ VIRTUOSO, TURBULENT

Interviewed by Eric Myers

Sydney Morning Herald, March 11, 1980

Stan Getz, 53, has been a jazz virtuoso since the age of 16. At 20, he was featured tenor saxophonist with the Woody Herman orchestra, and the band's 1948 recording of Early Autumn, including a warm, lyrical Getz solo, established him as the archetypal "cool" player, on whom many later musicians modelled their styles… When one has heard, over so many years, his classic and individual tenor style — as instantly recognisable as any sound in jazz — one wonders what kind of man is holding the saxophone…

CHARLIE BYRD TRIO: BEAUTIFUL BUT LARGELY SOPORIFIC

by Eric Myers

Sydney Morning Herald, March 13, 1980

Following closely on the heels of Stan Getz, who has just completed the first tour of Australia, comes the other giant of the bossa nova — guitarist Charlie Byrd. Although Getz referred only briefly to Brazilian music, Charlie Byrd still devotes much of his concert to the bossa nova/jazz samba idiom. His performance at The Basement on Tuesday night was a beautiful exhibition of finger-style guitar playing on two instruments: a non-amplified classical or Spanish guitar; and an acoustic guitar wired into an amplifier…

CHICO FREEMAN QUARTET: PRIDE IN THE BLACK HERITAGE

by Eric Myers

Sydney Morning Herald, March 17, 1980

The Chico Freeman concert on Friday night was more than just a beautiful experience; it was also a salutary reminder, by four extraordinary black Americans, that jazz is essentially a classical music which reflects the history of black culture in the United States. The Chico Freeman Quartet consists of the leader on saxophones, flutes, and bass clarinet, Kenny Kirkland (piano), Buster Williams (bass) and Billy Hart (drums). They played two sets of more than an hour each, devoting their program to six extensive works by Freeman…