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.

HITTY HITTY BANG BANG: PERCUSSION BITTER AND SWEET

by Ian Muldoon

December 24, 2018

Well into adulthood I had a recurring dream that I was in a jazz club, an underground one, perhaps The Basement in Sydney, or The Village Vanguard in New York,  and I was with some beautiful people. I am not beautiful. These people were also hip.  I am not hip. Of any measurable musical skill or talent, I am devoid as far as can be determined. This is not false modesty, just an acceptance of reality. In this jazz club there is a band playing - possibly one lead by Chico Freeman. It’s a quartet and the drummer is Jack DeJohnette.  Half way through the first set, DeJohnette collapses during a drum solo. Mayhem ensues. Ambulance arrives and removes the drummer...

PERTH JAZZ MUSICIANS PUNCHING ABOVE THEIR WEIGHT: KONRAD PASZKUDZKI

by Eric Myers

January, 2019

Recently the ex-Perth bassist Linda May Han Oh was described  in The Australian as “likely to be our top Australian jazz export”. That’s certainly true, as she holds down a prestigious gig with Pat Metheny, possibly the world’s leading contemporary jazz guitarist. But, considering the phalanx of outstanding jazz musicians who have come out of Perth in recent years, Oh may not be as unique as one might have first thought: she is simply the tip of the iceberg. In many ways the most impressive member of this distinguished clan, however, is a young musician with the unpronounceable name Konrad Paszkudzki…

LICORICE STICK: SOME THOUGHTS ON THE CLARINET IN JAZZ

by Ian Muldoon

February 12, 2019

In 1979 I was invited to present a jazz programme on 2ARM-FM, a community radio station based on the campus of University of New England, Armidale. The station manager was Karen (Kaz) Harris, who gave me free reign over the content of my programme consistent with the broadcasting act. It was a very fine community radio station which served the (musically and culturally diverse and well educated) community well. After a time Kaz asked whether I’d be interested in making a series of 30-minute radio programmes on Australian jazz using a contemporary as opposed to historical approach…