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.

LLOYD SWANTON’S CATHOLICS: THE SERIOUSNESS OF JAZZ

by Ian Muldoon

August 17, 2019

Music does not exist in a vacuum. It brings with it connotations, denotations, cultural baggage, and history. The listener brings with him or her, attitudes, influences, history, and personal experiences.  When I was aged eight my Manly West Public School teacher Mr Furzer had us listen to, then sing and understand, a song called Old Black Joe written by Stephen Foster…

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION WITH A GROOVE

Ken Burns interviews Wynton Marsalis

Excerpt from the book “Jazz: A History of America’s Music”, by Geoffrey C Ward and Ken Burns

Wynton Marsalis is the best-known jazz musician in America. Trumpet player, composer, educator, and creative director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, he was born October 18, 1961, in New Orleans. His father, Ellis, is a jazz pianist and teacher. His mother, Dolores Ferdinand Ellis, is a home economics major and the mother of six sons, four of whom are musicians. Marsalis acted as Senior Creative advisor for the Jazz film project, and Ken Burns spoke with him on camera several times over the course of the five years it took to complete it…

THE TWO PATHS OF JAZZ

by Merv Acheson

Sydney Jazz Club Quarterly Rag, January 1980, April 1980, July 1980, October 1980.

Jazz in Australia has travelled by two distinct paths - that of the professional musician and that of the dedicated amateur - and each has led to a completely different interpretation of the art form. When jazz music hit this country in the 1920s the first people to be impressed were the professional musicians of the day, men who could play one or more instruments competently and who were already working in the entertainment field. Misconceptions about the new music brought about some serio-comic results…