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.

WE ARE OUTSIDERS

by Ross McHenry

November, 2017

I have recently begun to understand the deep connection between the work I create and the place that I am from. As a young adult, I was sure that the place I would end up living would be a break from my roots. At 16 I spent time living in Sweden as an exchange student, and the experience of developing a deep connection with another place, another family and another culture made me feel certain I would never settle in Adelaide, where I am from...

CHICK COREA: RESPONSIBILITY OF THE ARTIST

by Eric Myers

Jazz Magazine, January/February, 1982

In New York at the 1981 Kool Jazz Festival, I heard Chick Corea playing with an acoustic quartet. Other than himself on piano, it included Joe Henderson (saxophones), Gary Peacock (double bass) and Roy Haynes (drums). I interviewed him in his hotel room on July 1, the day after that performance. A version of this  interview was published in the January/February, 1982 edition of Jazz Magazine, with the title “Chick Corea: Glimpse of an Artist”...

FRANK SMITH AT THE EMBERS, MELBOURNE 1960-61

by Ted Nettelbeck

A recollection prompted by questions from Eric Myers, November, 2017

The Oscar Peterson Trio (Ray Brown, Ed Thigpen) was booked to play at The Embers, in early June 1960. Billy Ross (drums), myself (piano) and Dicky Korf (bass) were at that time the rhythm section for Bruce Gray’s All Stars, the leading Adelaide jazz band at that time. We made the trip to Melbourne to hear Peterson, driving in Billy’s car. The 3-out trio was in the audience at the Embers on the night when we attended; and Mike Nock sat in during one of Frank’s sets...