JAZZCHORD ARTICLES
Between 1993 and 2002, 53 editions of the bi-monthly magazine JazzChord were published as part of the National Jazz Co-ordination Program. This folder includes a selection of articles from those editions. Articles published in JazzChord appear on this site also in the JOHN CLARE, JAZZ CO-ORDINATION, BOOK REVIEWS, CONTRIBUTIONS and OBITUARIES folders. Readers can click on the INDEX button for a list of articles in this folder.
Mike Brecker at Umbria Jazz 2000
UMBRIA JAZZ 2000
A Report by Eric Myers
JazzChord, Oct/Nov, 2000
I’ve attended only a handful of the world’s great international jazz festivals, (Berlin Jazzfest, Bombay’s Jazz Yatra, Montreal International, Wangaratta, Kool Jazz Festival in NY) so I’m by no means qualified to rank them. But, over the years, a number of globetrotters have pointed to Umbria Jazz as the world’s finest jazz festival. Jim McLeod has been there for six years in a row, and won’t miss it. In July 2000, I discovered for myself what the fuss has been all about. And, let’s not mess around with qualifications; Umbria Jazz is a truly splendid festival…
Keith Jarrett at Umbria Jazz 2001
UMBRIA JAZZ 2001
A Report by Eric Myers
JazzChord, Aug/Sep, 2001
The 2001 festival was only my second Umbria Jazz but I think I can say that, as usual, it was a beautiful festival. Once again, 200,000 people over ten days descended on Perugia (situated in “the green heart of Italy”) primarily to party in the streets and enjoy free entertainment. But also there was the more serious, ticketed artistic program, presenting many of the world’s finest jazz artists…
Tony Gould (left), chair of the Wangaratta National Jazz Awards, with the winner in 1998, vocalist Michelle Nicolle
THE WANGARATTA FESTIVAL: A HISTORY OF ITS GESTATION
by Eric Myers
JazzChord, Jul/Aug, 1994
On May 11, 1994, ABC-TV showed the first of a series of programs filmed at the 1993 Wangaratta Jazz Festival. The broadcaster Jim McLeod, then best known for his Jazztrack program on ABC Classic FM, introduced the first program. I was very interested to hear what he said. “The Wangaratta Jazz Festival is the most important jazz festival in Australia”, said Jim, “and it has been since 1990, when the first one was hailed by the critics and the musicians, and by the public thankfully, as ‘the most exciting festival’. “It’s the music that’s the most important thing,” he went on to say. “It’s not so concerned with the entertainment values that sometimes become the reason for a festival”…