Eric Myers Jazz

sydney arts guide

This folder contains reviews written by Eric Myers for the Sydney Arts Guide, edited by David Kary. Readers can click on the INDEX button for a list of reviews or articles in this folder.

GREGG ARTHUR UP CLOSE AT THE LOUNGE IN CHATSWOOD

Reviewed by Eric Myers

Sydney Arts Guide, October 7, 2025

In October, 2017, I first heard singer Gregg Arthur on his CD Last Call which I reviewed for The Australian. Subsequently I heard him at the Camelot Lounge, where I was mightily impressed by his live singing on stage. In 2021, I reviewed his album Jazz & Cocktails, praising it highly. Meanwhile, one night at Johnston Street Jazz, I encountered Arthur sitting in with the John Harkins Trio, and introduced myself after the performance. I was then determined to hear him to best advantage, and attended his gig on May 7, 2021 at Foundry 616 which by the way was sold out. I was to discover at subsequent performances in Foundry that all Arthur’s gigs at this leading jazz club were sold out -  a significant phenomenon, considering that from time to time I would be in Foundry and find myself part of a small audience of maybe 20 people. Arthur was one of the few jazz artists in Sydney who apparently had consistent drawing power…

HARRY BENNETTS PERFORMS BEETHOVEN’S VIOLIN CONCERTO: A TRIUMPHANT PERFORMANCE AT CITY RECITAL HALL

Reviewed by Eric Myers

Sydney Arts Guide, October 12, 2025

The works presented at this splendid concert, Beethoven’s violin concerto and Schubert’s Symphony No 4 were united by a common factor: both works were relatively unsuccessful during the lifetimes of the composers, and only came to the fore well after the deaths of both Beethoven and Schubert. Beethoven’s work remains the only major concerto for the violin between the Mozart violin concertos written in the 1770s and the Mendelssohn violin concerto of 1844. Why there were no major concertos written for the violin during that period of 70 years is an interesting question. I’m not aware of a valid explanation for this conundrum. The early Romantic period was of course dominated by the piano concerto, being the result, one supposes, of the influence of Beethoven, a piano virtuoso himself, who wrote five piano concertos of genius. More on the gestation and history of both works below. First, let’s go to the concert itself…

MAJOR ZULU AT THE LOUNGE IN CHATSWOOD

Reviewed by Eric Myers

The Lounge, Chatswood, October 17, 2025

When I last reviewed Major Zulu in November, 2022, on the occasion of her closing  the Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival at Foundry 616, she had a beautiful  band of young jazz musicians with her. They included Roshan Kumarage (piano) and Dave Quinn (electric bass) best-known as members of Tom Avgenicos’s innovative quartet Delay 45, the great young drummer George Greenhill, and others. Three years on it was interesting to see that Zulu is now working with a backing band that takes a much more rock-oriented (and much less jazz-oriented) approach. It’s as if she has now adopted a somewhat different genre…