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.

BASS PLAYERS YUNIOR TERRY AND SIMON STARR SEXTETS

by Ian Muldoon

August 8, 2025

Pascal pops into my head at the oddest times. Most recently August 2, 2025 at a Jazzlab gig listening to a sextet out of synch. But more on that later. The previous night of August 1, same venue, a full full house was gifted with a display of gobsmacking artistic brilliance from a sextet completely in synch, with each other, with the audience, and with the muses. "It was a night, ooh oh, what a night it was, it really was such a night” sang I, disappearing down Leslie Street, Brunswick around 11pm mauling Elvis Presley. Yunior Terry Cabrera, known professionally by his christian names alone, is a professor of music who has taught at academies and universities in India, Australia, Canada and the USA including the Berklee College of Music…

PAUL GRABOWSKY SEXTET: BREATHING LIFE INTO CONCIERTO

Reviewed by Ian Muldoon

August 18, 2025

Sometimes, perhaps more than sometimes, I wonder if I’m nuts. It’s not just about the weird world of finance and Bitcoin and block chains and “dollars” in the trillions, it also happens with music.  For instance, when I read about some musical work considered “classic” or a “masterpiece” and my take on the work is almost the opposite, it’s unsettling.  The latest instance was reading about Paul Grabowsky AO announcing his sextet is going to cover Jim Hall’s “classic”  Concierto (CTI 1975), which includes “wonderful" arrangements of themes from Joaquín Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez. Putting those opinions aside, I saw that Grabowsky's sextet had leading artists in it…

CLASSICAL, JAZZ, AND NEO CLASSICAL MUSIC

by Ian Muldoon

August 24, 2025

Benny Goodman (1909-1986) in the late 1940s commissioned Aaron Copland (1900-1990) to write a new clarinet concerto. It premiered on an NBC radio broadcast on November 6, 1950 with Goodman and the NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Fritz Reiner. The original score was amended because the coda was too difficult for Goodman. The unamended score was subsequently performed by the likes of Andrew Simon of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.  I was looking forward to a performance of this work by the distinguished British clarinetist, conductor and Grammy Award winner Michael Collins MBE at Elizabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre, on Saturday, August 16, 2025.  The jazz double bassist Jaques Emery was part of the 19-piece orchestra, so that was an additional reason I was interested in attending…