JOHN CLARE
This section is dedicated to the work of John Clare, who began writing in the early 70s, and has long been regarded as the doyen of Australian jazz writers. Helen Garner, in her preface to Clare's book Take Me Higher, describes how she used to cut out his writings under his Gail Brennan pseudonym and paste them into her diary. Originally she thought the articles were written by a woman. She describes his writing as "superbly literate and articulate, deeply informed, yet completely ordinary in tone, even at their most elated. A relaxed freedom flowed through everything he wrote. He was fearless. He rejoices. He celebrated. Years later, an art critic who admired him said to me: John Clare’s an ecstatic.” Many of John Clare's articles that were published previously in various publications are collected here. Click on the INDEX button for a list of articles in this folder.
Alan Turnbull, Tony Esterman & Darcy Wright
THE RHYTHM SECTION THAT PLAYS TOGETHER STAYS TOGETHER
by John Clare
Encore Magazine, June, 1979
The heartbeat of Billy Burton's award-winning band is its flexible and dynamic rhythm section: Tony Esterman, piano; Darcy Wright, bass; and Alan Turnbull, drums. The key to their effectiveness is a combination of ability, attitude and mutual enjoyment. They have been playing together at Marrickville RSL for just on six years…
L-R, Don Burrows, Lee Hutchings, Bob Bertles, Charlie Munro, Peter Martin
PHILIP MORRIS SAXES FIVE
by John Clare
Encore Magazine, June, 1979
We did not attempt a head count of the people who turned up in Sydney's Hyde Park for a Sunday afternoon of jazz last April, but sponsors Philip Morris must have been well pleased by the roll up. The crowd, which stayed put throughout the happy recital, stretched from near the Archibald Fountain back to the Macquarie Street edge of the park. They saw and heard five topline saxophonists — Don Burrows, Charlie Munro, Bob Bertles, Peter Martin and Lee Hutchings…
Charlie Munro
CHARLIE MUNRO: SURVIVAL WITH SPIRIT
by John Clare
Encore Magazine, July, 1979
One of the most gratifying turn of events over the last few years has been the recognition of Charlie Munro's contribution to Australian music. What is still not fully realised is that Charlie has been a major influence in areas that might seem mutually exclusive: light entertainment music and experimental jazz. On the one hand there are the many inventive, entertaining, but scarcely outrageous charts Munro contributed to the Sydney ABC Show Band; on the other his uncompromising, and at one time controversial, work with Bryce Rohde and his own bands...