Eric Myers Jazz

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.

MATT OTTIGNON, SAXOPHONIST, COMPOSER & BANDLEADER

Interviewed by Eric Myers

Loudmouth, August 1, 2024

Matthew Ottignon is a composer and saxophonist who arrived from New Zealand in 1996 and is now entrenched in Sydney's vibrant music scene. He is one of Australia's most sought-after musicians and is widely regarded as a master of all musical realms he pursues. "You hear a life force fermenting in Matt Ottignon's tenor saxophone that can rear up like a tsunami or melt like chocolate," wrote John Shand in the Sydney Morning Herald  in August, 2020. Between the committed schedule of his current projects — the quartet which recorded the album Volant, Mister Ott, Tread Lightly, Java Quartet, Fire: A Tribute to Mark Simmonds, and The Benjamin Walsh Quartet — Ottignon tours nationally as a professional session musician with the likes of Tim Minchin, Boy and Bear, and Synthony. He also encourages the next generation of young musicians through educational tours with Musica Viva…

CASEY GOLDEN, PIANIST, COMPOSER & IMPROVISER

Interviewed by Eric Myers

Loudmouth, September 1, 2024

Casey Golden is a forward-thinking musician based in Sydney. Described as “a brilliant improviser with a highly developed melodic sensibility” (The Australian) and “a pianist of sheer class” (Jazzwise), he’s been involved in a wide range of original music ranging from jazz/improvised projects to electronic, pop and film music. Born in Sydney into a family of musicians, Golden is the grandson of internationally renowned jazz trumpeter Bob Barnard. He studied classical piano from a young age and was exposed to a wide variety of music through his mother’s vast record collection. He has a Bachelor of Music in jazz performance and has studied with Australian pianists including Alister Spence and Matt McMahon, and international artists including Gerald Clayton, Lage Lund and Aaron Parks…

HELEN FENTON: JAZZ VOCALIST AND BANDLEADER

Interviewed by Eric Myers

Loudmouth, October 1, 2024

Like many others interviewed in this series for Loudmouth, Helen Fenton came from a musical background. Her father Syd Gubbay and uncle Norm Gubbay were musicians who grew up in the company of well-known jazz musicians such as George Golla and Don Burrows among other luminaries of the halcyon days of jazz in Sydney. Helen did not start out as a jazz singer, preferring for some time pop and folk music. She had classical piano and singing training and tried her hand at many other instruments. As her first love was singing, she focussed on jazz after an invitation from her father to join his big band in 1989 after a lengthy hiatus to assist her husband’s business, marry and start a family. The Sydney Sound Big Band had a residency for 17 years at the Rockdale RSL, then another for three years at South Sydney Juniors Leagues Club.