ESSAYS

This section includes essays on various jazz subjects, written by a number of writers. Contributions are welcome. Writers interested in contributing are welcome to contact the editor by filling out the form in the CONTACT tab. Photographs to illustrate those essays are welcome. Readers can click on the INDEX button for a list of articles in this folder.

NO MUSIC BETTER EXPRESSES THE HUMAN SOUL THAN JAZZ

by Rhys Muldoon

Foreword to Ian Muldoon’s book “My Jazz Odyssey: Confessions of a Lifetime Enthusiast“, published in 2021.

June 10, 2022

Jazz. Is there a more misunderstood genre in music? If you’re reading this book, chances are you understand. Let me ask another question- is there a type of music that better expresses the human soul? No. There is not, and don’t bother arguing with me. Jazz, as a category, is so extraordinarily wide and deep, that to say “I don’t like jazz” is akin to saying “I don’t like the ocean”. From the lyrical delicacy of Bill Evans to the frontal assault of Mark Simmonds, jazz has it covered. I grew up listening to brutal, primitive punk rock, yet I’ve never heard anything as sonically savage as John Zorn’s Torture Garden, an album the author (and my father) sent me one fine day. It was a father to son “you think YOUR music is intense” throwdown. Yes, he won…

JAZZ BIRDS

by Ian Muldoon

June 13, 2022

Charles Parker Jr (1920-1955) nicknamed “Bird”, is one of the two most esteemed soloists in jazz. Louis Armstrong is the other. The world famous New York club Birdland (est 1949) is named after Parker. Lullaby of Birdland, written in ten minutes by its composer, pianist George Shearing, is that club’s theme song but when rendered in French translates as Lullaby of the Land of the Birds. Parker’s mother Addie had no idea how her son got named Bird. Violinist Teddy Blume (1917-1992) reckoned Parker was 14 and unable to enter clubs so was constantly in the yard with an ear against the wall listening to music inside and that’s the reason he was nicknamed Yardbird, later shortened to Bird. Another story was about a dead chook killed by a car driven by members of the travelling Jay McShann band. Band member Parker retrieved it for cooking later and was nicknamed Bird for that reason…

INSIDE THE MUSICIAN: GHOST FREQUENCY

by Cameron Undy

Loudmouth, October 31, 2020

I was born to a mathematician dad and a librarian/arts scholar mum. Somehow I wound up being a musician. I remember my dad saying that if I wanted to be a musician I would need to be bloody good at it because it was a hard life. My mum cried when I told her I would live in the gutter if it meant I could be a musician (boys can be pretty insensitive to their mums). Thankfully my single-mindedness meant that all I did was practice, listen, talk and play music, and I became pretty good. My older sister Fiona played the guitar and drums. She was extremely clever and taught me everything I needed to know about harmony/scales/rhythms, playing the guitar…