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.

EBS DARAMOLA QUINTET NOVEMBER 11 2025

by Ian Muldoon

November 19, 2025

Are the personalities of jazz musicians mirrored in what music they make? Yes. Yes, but…. Persona is not personality, but sometimes both seem to meld into one. With drummers, reserved Joe Talia, the sensitive Simon Barker, Kyrie Anderson, Daniel Susnjar, Dylan van der Schyff, all seem to be extensions of their persona/personalities in the way the aggressive Buddy Rich or the sunny Jo Jones or the assertive Adam Nussbaum seem to mirror their personas in their playing. Drumming is such an obviously physical means of making music that this seems normal. Abdullah Ibn Buhaina (aka Art Blakey) with his ebullient persona seemed the classic example of a drummer speaking through his drums mirroring his persona. Yet Ebs Daramola on the one hand seems a gentle beautiful man touched with grace, who plays in an energetic, very physical way, using a strong bass drum beat with a very selectively individual drum set that reflects a range of influences. Vented cymbals and traditional finish cymbals are part of his kit which he plays with much physical action, drive and energy, reminds one of the great Mr Blakey…

JAZZ: ANCIENT AND MODERN WITH PAUL GRABOWSKY

by Ian Muldoon

November 20, 2025

Improvisation is a foundational element of jazz, as Professor Grabowsky AO reminded us years ago in a documentary TV series on that subject. Improvisation has always existed in music including in Western musical giants like Bach. In the duets noted below, excepting Ellington, they were wholly improvised. The Necks have built a career on improvisation so when Grabowsky tells the audience he and Mindy Meng Wang entered a studio and played an hour’s improvisation which they have now released as an album, we are not astonished so much as grateful for the results. The album is Between Dreams (Besant Hall) 2025…