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.

THE MERV ACHESON STORY

by Merv Acheson

Jazz Magazine, 1982-86

Eric Myers writes: The Merv Acheson Story was serialised in Jazz Magazine, then edited by myself, when I invited Merv in early 1982 to succeed Len Barnard who had contributed six instalments of The Len Barnard Story in the first six editions of the magazine. Merv’s story commenced with Part I in the March/April, 1982 edition. Thirteen instalments appeared in consecutive editions of the magazine, concluding with Part 13 in the Summer/Autumn, 1986 edition. Merv Acheson died on August 11, 1987, aged 65…

JAZZ TODAY: PARADIGMS LOST AND FOUND

by Gary Giddins & Scott Deveaux

Excerpt from their book JAZZ (2009)

In the 1990s, a new term became fashionable: post-historical. Intended to convey the essentially insupportable idea that history is somehow over, that the great political and cultural movements are behind us, it was applied to every aspect of modern life, including jazz. The concept's appeal lies in the two liberating illusions it fosters: first, that our generation is perched atop the historical mountain, looking down at the past, like gods; and second, that history's afterlife is a clean slate, upon which we are free to scrawl our own blueprints for the future. A cursory glance at post-post-historical history suggests that (as throughout human history) such arrogance leads to military debacles and moral chaos. No surprise there…

DIANA ALLEN: JAZZ IMPRESARIO

Based on an essay by Mel Forbes

Vjazz, February 2012

If you’ve attended a major jazz event in Melbourne in the last thirty years, chances are that the event was organized and the performers introduced by a smartly-dressed, immaculately-coiffed lady of a certain age. This is Diana Allen. But is this what a jazz impresario is supposed to look like? Diana Allen has spent much of her adult life promoting jazz music and musicians, along the way associating with not only some of the great icons of jazz, but also nurturing up-and-coming musicians who these days are at the forefront of the Australian jazz scene...