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.
Ted White
TED WHITE: WELCOME ARRIVAL TO THE MUSICAL MELTING-POT
by Eric Myers
Sydney Morning Herald, July 23, 1981
With the ascendancy of Sydney in Australian jazz, more and more outside musicians are choosing to live and work here, so that this city is fast developing a jazz melting-pot not unlike that of New York. One of the most recent arrivals is the 45-year-old English multi-instrumentalist Ted White. He first came to Australia from London in 1963, and carved out a big reputation in Melbourne throughout the 1970s, before moving to Sydney this year. White's multi-instrumentalism is almost of Errol Buddle proportions…
Barry Duggan
SMALL AUDIENCE FOR BARRY DUGGAN
by Eric Myers
Sydney Morning Herald, July 28, 1981
The concert played by this superb quartet on Friday night, attended by a disappointingly small audience of 50 people, illustrated the apathy of the jazz public in Sydney. Where was the audience which has made jazz a growth area in recent years? All the talk about a "jazz boom" and the "jazz explosion" has a hollow ring to it when our most committed, intelligent and creative musicians cannot draw a decent audience…
Herbie Hancock
THE KOOL JAZZ FESTIVAL
by Eric Myers
Encore magazine, August, 1981
As this was the first Kool Jazz Festival (previously known as the Newport Jazz Festival) that I had attended, I was not in a position to know if it was more successful than most. The New York critics, however, generally agreed that its results were satisfactory all round: the musical highlights were many, and the festival, which had a budget of $1.16 million for the ten days, made a slight profit on ticket sales (about US$10,000) plus the fee Kool cigarettes pays to have its name on the festival. This was the 28th annual Newport Jazz Festival, but was renamed the Kool Jazz Festival for the first time this year…