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.

JAZZMEIA HORN HEADLINES THE WOMEN’S JAZZ FESTIVAL

Reviewed by Eric Myers

Loudmouth, December 1, 2024

Anyone who has heard Jazzmeia Horn’s great album Messages would be well aware that she’s an outstanding jazz singer, perhaps the most talented and unusual vocal artist to have emerged in the US over the last ten years. In view of her importance I was certainly looking forward to her first performance in Sydney, headlining the Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival at St Stephens Uniting Church in Macquarie Street, Sydney. Let me say at the outset that the evening could only be considered a major success, in terms of audience reaction. A little over 400 people, intent on showing their appreciation for Horn’s obvious talents, reacted rapturously to her amazing work…

LAURENCE PIKE: DRUMMER, IMPROVISER, COMPOSER AND PRODUCER

Interviewed by Eric Myers

Loudmouth, December 1, 2024

Laurence Pike is a prolific drummer/composer/producer and one of Australia’s most respected creative musicians. His work explores the language of improvisation within disciplines, with an emphasis on presence and experience through real time composition within constructed sound worlds, drawing on a musical value system developed over two decades. He has also produced and performed two acclaimed duo albums with legendary jazz pianist Mike Nock, the duo project Isola with Melbourne-based guitarist Cameron Deyell, and in the regular groups of Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders, DD Dumbo and Sarah Blasko…

HETTY KATE AT THE LOUNGE

Reviewed by Eric Myers

The Lounge, Chatswood Concourse, December 5, 2024

I first became aware of vocalist Hetty Kate when I heard the great James Morrison double-album A to Z of Jazz, recorded in March, 2014 with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Singing a number of well-known standards (such as Stardust, Honeysuckle Rose, Don’t Get Around Much Any More, etc), she handled all her songs very capably, but I felt there was then an aura of inexperience about her. I can’t say her artistry then made a huge impression on me.  Listening to A to Z of Jazz again, prompted by hearing Kate live at The Lounge, I stand by what I thought ten years ago. On that album her voice is not particularly strong, although her phrasing is excellent. Still, even though she was apparently a work in progress, she admittedly showed considerable promise. Now that I’ve heard her ten years on, who would have thought that the Hetty Kate of 2014 would in 2024 be the immaculate performer who received a standing ovation at The Lounge? The transformation has been amazing…