JAZZ CO-ORDINATION

This section includes articles that throw light on  “jazz co-ordination”. Jazz co-ordination was devised by the Australia Council, the Australian Government's arts funding and advisory body, in the early 1980s to increase government support for jazz. Part-time jazz co-ordinators in all states were appointed in 1983. Most State arts ministries subsequently provided funds for jazz coordination programs. Eric Myers was a Jazz Co-ordinator from 1983 to the end of 2001. His position became full-time in 1986.

THE PAB FUNDING RESULTS: A BLESSING OR A DISASTER FOR JAZZ?

by Eric Myers

JazzChord, Nov/Dec, 1993 & Jan/Feb, 1994

One of the major achievements of the jazz co-ordination program in its first decade was the increase in Australia Council funding over ten years between 1981/82 and 1992/93 as the figures quoted below indicate. Throughout these years the Jazz Co-ordination Association of NSW always felt a responsibility to monitor the funding of jazz projects by the various government funding authorities. The results were particularly successful in NSW, where the NSW Jazz Co-ordinator actively encouraged leading musicians to apply for funds, and provided hands-on assistance with completing the application forms...

MUSICA VIVA SUPPORT FOR INTERNATIONAL JAZZ TOURS

by Trish Ludgate

JazzChord, Mar/Apr, 1994

I welcome the opportunity provided by the dialogue in JazzChord, Jan/Feb, 1994, concerning the support for jazz by Australian music institutions. Eric Myers, in his response to Jane Westbrook, mentions at point 5 that "it is widely believed that the sort of international tours which went out in the late 70s and early 80s have dried up. Don Burrows, in his address, not so long ago, to the National Press Club, said that 'Foreign Affairs touring, through the auspices of Musica Viva, had been curtailed’.” This is a curious perception, and an inaccurate one…

THE JAZZ CO-ORDINATION PROGRAM OF WA 1985-1992

by Garry Lee

September 8, 2020

It is three decades since I held the position of WA Jazz Co-ordinator [WA JCO]. I was appointed to the position in November 1985 and finished at the end of 1992 as the application for funding to the WA Department for the Arts had been unsuccessful. Australia Council, on the basis of the state withdrawing funding, did likewise. From the distance in time that 2020 affords, it is reasonably clear to see what jazz in WA was like before my tenure and compare it to what it was like after my tenure. I believe it is possible to say that WA jazz “joined” the national jazz landscape in my seven plus years tenure…