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 USEFULNESS OF ART AND THE THIRD STREAM

by Ian Muldoon

January 1, 2020

The Usefulness of Art is the title of a five-CD document released in 2019 on Fat Rain Music. Adam Simmons is the creative force behind both the document and its manufacture. The document is an attractive fold-out product which would make a fine gift for a music lover. Simmons is the composer, arranger, leader, and instrumentalist playing respectively sopranino saxophone, baritone saxophone, shakuhachi, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, and alto flute. There are liner notes by Simmons related to the genesis of his involvement in the “arts” and the ideas behind the title as well as his personal reflections on what “use" he might be to society given his education and training at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA).

TONY GORMAN: CALMING EVERY MOLECULE WITH ONE LONG NOTE

by John Shand

Sydney Morning Herald, August 31, 2017

For veteran jazz musician Tony Gorman making music is these days equal parts art and therapy. The brilliant saxophonist and clarinetist was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 20 years ago, leaving him with numbness in his legs, hands and half his face, making playing a monumental challenge. "I got out of bed one morning and I fell flat on my face," he recalls. "I couldn't feel anything from the waist down”…

THE UNEQUALLED KERRIE BIDDELL

by Mark Isaacs

Australian Music Centre website, September 22, 2014

I was very saddened to hear of the passing of the great Australian singer Kerrie Biddell. She was someone with whom I had a strong professional and personal association. I met Kerrie when I was in my early-to-mid teens. She was at the time the powerhouse featured singer with the Daly-Wilson Big Band (this band was then a household name in Australia). She was also a friend of my family, as her mother (a pianist) had done gigs with my father (a guitarist) and it was my parents who introduced us. Later, at around the age of 18, I wrote a piece I called Indian Hemp for her band Compared to What and, in 1978 at age 19, I joined that same band...