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.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE: MORE GIGS, BETTER PAY

by Bruce Johnson

AJIRN Conference, June, 2018

There is currently a revival of anxiety about the declining level of live music in Australian cities, so it seems like a good time to report on a research project into the state of live performance opportunities for popular musics in New South Wales conducted over a decade ago. It resulted in parliamentary debate and significant changes relating to entertainment legislation which demolished many obstacles to the presentation of live music. I therefore present this paper as a case study in how to give social actualisation to our work as music researchers, to answer the question ‘So What?’

KEITH HOUNSLOW

Interviewed by Mike Williams

Excerpt from the book The Australian Jazz Explosion 1981

There can be few musicians anywhere in the world who have shared their playing life simultaneously between front-ranking traditional and modern bands. In the early 1980s, one of the joys of the Melbourne jazz scene has been the appearances of Keith Hounslow as a regular member of Frank Traynor’s Jazz Preachers and the modernist Brian Brown Quintet, and in his unique partnership with pianist Tony Gould, the McJad duo.

A CONCISE HISTORY OF AMERICAN JAZZ

by Alexander Hunter

The Conversation, December 10, 2015

After more than 100 years of history, it’s clear the word “jazz” means many different things to many different people. Depending on who’s doing the talking, it can either mean a highly specific musical style, or almost nothing. The early timeline of jazz is spotty, vague and disputed, as one might expect of a musical movement that grew from a group that was both marginalised and exploited. Jazz evolved from the fringes of American society into one of the most influential, and enduring, musical movements of the 20th century…