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.

ON THE BENDERS

by Bruce Johnson

Jazz Magazine, Summer/Autumn 1986

You know it’s The Benders from the opening juggernaut of The Brunt. It’s the band’s third LP, the second with Jason Morphett on reeds. The group is well enough established and widely enough admired for one simply to be able to say “another Benders’ record” for most jazz followers in Australia to have a fairly clear idea of what to expect. Original compositions with shape and development, delivered with regard to dynamic variation; instrumental command which in some cases amounts to legislative; fundamentally acoustic and foursquare in the jazz category as it is currently fed by various experiments into other fields as well as by its own rich tradition...

STEWART SPEER: A DRUMMER WHO WON’T LET THE ODDS BEAT HIM

by Eric Myers

Sydney Morning Herald, September 15, 1981

This week the legendary  53-year-old drummer Stewart Speer embarks on a 10-week tour of Australia with Max Merritt, the former Australian rock star now based in England. This period of employment breaks a long drought for an important figure in Australian jazz history…

CAN JAZZ BE SAVED?

by Terry Teachout

Wall Street Journal, August 9, 2009

In 1987, Congress passed a joint resolution declaring jazz to be “a rare and valuable national treasure.” Nowadays the music of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis is taught in public schools, heard on TV commercials and performed at prestigious venues such as New York’s Lincoln Center, which even runs its own nightclub, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola. Here’s the catch: Nobody’s listening…