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.
Mark Murphy
MARK MURPHY: LET DOWN BY INADEQUATE SOUND
by Eric Myers
The Australian, January 5, 1984
In view of the adulation that greeted the American singer Mark Murphy on his opening night at Kinselas, it is perhaps churlish and a little out-of-step to suggest that his performance was not wholly satisfying. Murphy demonstrated the great advantage of having a cult following rather than a critical audience. The flaws in his performance were comprehensively ignored by the crowd and he was given a warm and finally boisterous reception. Still, the critical question for Murphy fans remains. Why should a man equipped with such a lovely voice — as we know from his superb LPs — be so often betrayed in live performance by poor sound quality?
Georgie Fame
GEORGIE FAME: TRUE RHYTHM & BLUES
by Eric Myers
The Australian, January 18, 1984
The British singer Georgie Fame hit The Basement like a bombshell on Monday. He could not have had a better opening night in Sydney. For lovers of R & B — that tradition of African American music which has provided most of the inspiration for rock and roll over the past 30 years — it was a memorable evening with one of the idiom's great exponents. Throughout the night, Fame tipped his hat to the seminal black musicians of that tradition, with tunes like Jimmy Witherspoon's Pink Champagne, Louis Jordan's Saturday Night Fish-Fry, Sam Cooke's Bring It On Home and Fats Domino's Blueberry Hill. His own famous hits, Get Away, Yeh-Yeh and Bonnie and Clyde, which he must have performed hundreds of times to adoring audiences, sounded as fresh as ever…
John Costelloe, James Morrison, George Brodbeck
THREE TROMBONISTS PAY TRIBUTE TO THE GREATS
by Eric Myers
The Australian, January 19, 1984
This was the second of six Festival of Sydney concerts at the Don Burrows Supper Club in which Australian musicians are paying tribute to great jazz instrumentalists. It featured local Sydney trombonists John Costelloe, George Brodbeck and James Morrison, with rhythm sections, recognising about a dozen seminal trombonists, from traditional stylist Jack Teagarden through to the avant-gardist Albert Mangelsdorff. It is difficult to explain why most of the night was not uplifting…