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.

REFLECTING ON “REFLECTIONS OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA”: A BICENTENNIAL COMMISSION

by Garry Lee

March 29, 2021

In mid-1985 I was responsible for initiating a unique jazz project in Western Australia that created a story and history that needs to be told. There was an advertisement in the daily WA newspaper – West Australian – calling for applications for Composer Commissions to celebrate Australia’s Bicentenary that would take place in 1988. The ad was submitted by the Australian Bicentennial Authority [ABA]. Information on this was also disseminated by then WA Jazz coordinator, Adrian Kenyon…

HOW JAZZ GOT ITSELF ORGANISED AND TOOK A PLACE AT THE FUNDING TABLE

by Shane Nichols

Australian Financial Review, June 12, 1999

There's been an explosion in the amount of Australian jazz being composed and recorded. It's happening because our musicians discovered being cool was at the expense of being smart. Suddenly, jazz is all over the Sydney Opera House. In the SOH's Bennelong Bar, top names are presented free, six nights a week, making the venue technically Sydney's leading jazz spot. And lately there is also a jazz/avant-garde element to performances in the SOH's new Studio space…

ED GASTON: JAZZ, CLASSICAL MUSIC, GARY BURTON AND GOOD TASTE

by Trevor Graham

Music Maker, March, 1972

Whenever the conversation turns to acoustic bass players in Australia, it inevitably commences with Ed Gaston. Ed, from Atlanta, Georgia, came to Australia with the Australian Jazz Quintet in 1958, returned to the States during 1962-63, and has been a member of the Don Burrows Quartet since his return in late '63. During his '62-'63 visit, Ed worked with Frank Rosolino, Stan Levy, Joe Gordon, Helen Merrill, Richie Kamuca, Conti Candoli, Russ Freeman, Shelly Manne, Victor Feldman, Jack Sheldon, Terry Trotter, Jack Marshall, Chuck Flores, Clare Fischer, Bill Perkins, Joe Burnett and Bobby Short…