LOUDMOUTH ARTICLES & REVIEWS
This folder contains reviews and articles written by various authors for the Music Trust’s e-zine Loudmouth. Readers can click on the INDEX button for a list of reviews or articles in this folder.
Remy Le Boeuf
THE SYDNEY CON JAZZ FESTIVAL: IT SHOULD BE AN ANNUAL EVENT
Reviewed by Eric Myers
Loudmouth, July 1, 2024
After the enormous buzz of previous Sydney Con Jazz Festivals I found this year’s event somewhat anti-climactic. But this was not the fault of the festival. It was more a function of some of my own poor decisions as to which concert I should attend, and also the fact that there were some unfortunate clashes between concerts where I agonised over which one to choose. On some occasions, certain concerts were full, and admission was not possible. For example I was very much looking forward to the Music From The Waves concert featuring the music of Freyja Garbett, but was not admitted, owing to the venue being full (Recital Hall West, holding 116 people). In the Café however (with a capacity of 80) the organisers had thoughtfully reserved a row of about eight seats, which served the admirable purpose of enabling certain jazz writers, including myself, to arrive a couple of minutes late, and still get a seat in a packed venue…
Alex Siegers
ALEX SIEGERS & THE MELALEUCA JAZZ ORCHESTRA
Review by Eric Myers
Loudmouth, May edition, 2024
I found this performance, before a sold-out audience at Foundry 616, somewhat paradoxical. Basically it took the form of vocalist Alex Siegers, described recently by ABC Jazz as a “rising star vocalist”, recreating Ella Fitzgerald’s famous live album Twelve Nights in Hollywood, recorded at the Crescendo Club in Hollywood, Lops Angeles over ten nights in May 1961. Siegers, a very tall slim woman in a startling red dress, opened the concert backed by an excellent rhythm section: Casey Golden (piano), Elsen Price (bass), Nic Cecire (drums) and Michael Coggins (guitar). Her opening tune was ambitious and risky: How High The Moon, perhaps the most difficult tune in Fitzgerald’s vast repertoire. Siegers attempted all the main aspects of Ella’s great version, commencing in medium four, then doubling the time and going into Ornithology, the well-known Charlie Parker composition based on the same chord changes. Opinions varied as to how successful Siegers was in trying to recreate this classic version, now a legendary part of jazz history…
Liam Burrows
LIAM BURROWS & THE MELALEUCA JAZZ ORCHESTRA
Review by Eric Myers
Loudmouth, August edition, 2024
I’ve been writing on jazz since 1976 when, as the then music editor of the show business magazine Encore, I was offered free tickets to attend a concert in the Hordern Pavilion featuring the singer Roberta Flack. To justify those tickets I was required to write a review. This began a career in reviewing which has been superseded in quantity perhaps only by the late John Clare, and possibly John Shand who, like myself, is still going. Quality of course is another matter. The Flack concert featured a prestigious entourage full of leading American jazz musicians, funded by the US State Department, so no expense was spared. I have two pristine memories of that concert, other than it was a magnificent event: the rhythm section included well-known US jazz musicians guitarist Eric Gale, and bassist Anthony Jackson; and the four-female vocal backing group included a then young and little-known singer Patti Austin, who was called upon by Flack to sing Flack’s hit song The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face…