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.

JAMES MORRISON PRESENTS THE BIG BAND LIECHTENSTEIN

Reviewed by Eric Myers

Sydney Arts Guide, November 25, 2025

Liechtenstein is a tiny landlocked principality situated between Austria and Switzerland where the language spoken is Swiss-German. It’s only 25km long and has a small population of just over 40,000. In Australian terms, it’s no larger than, say, Townsville in Queensland or Wagga Wagga in New South Wales. So perhaps it’s surprising that such a tiny place has a professional jazz orchestra as accomplished as the Big Band Liechtenstein. Still, this small country is fortunate to be situated adjacent to a plethora of performance opportunities in Europe, where there’s a huge following for jazz music. It was a very worthwhile experience to hear this band play in Sydney under the expert direction of our own James Morrison…

SAM GILL WINS PRESTIGIOUS 2025 FREEDMAN JAZZ FELLOWSHIP

Reviewed by Eric Myers

Sydney Arts Guide, December 5, 2025

When the concert featuring the Freedman Jazz Fellowship finalists is promoted, the organisers, the Freedman Foundation and the Sydney Improvised Music Association, can justly claim that the audience will be hearing the future of Australian jazz. Previous winners of this fellowship, who invariably found their careers enhanced by this prestigious fellowship, read like a who’s who of Australian jazz. They include Phil Slater, Andrea Keller, Kristin Berardi, Andrew Robson, Matt Keegan, Julian Wilson, Matt McMahon, Nick Garbett, Aaron Choulai, Emma Stephenson, Helen Svoboda, Philippa Murphy-Haste, and Hilary Geddes. On November 22, 2025, four finalists competed for the $30,000 fellowship: Holli Scott (vocalist, WA), Niran Dasika (trumpet, Vic), Sam Gill (saxophone, NSW) and Wilbur Whitta (piano, NSW)…

SIMON TEDESCHI HOSTS BRILLIANT JAZZ PERFORMANCE AT THE LOUNGE

Reviewed by Eric Myers

Sydney Arts Guide, December 10, 2025

A jazz performance without a drummer in the band is very unusual, but this did not prevent pianist Simon Tedeschi and his three colleagues from providing a great performance at The Lounge on Thursday, December 4. Those colleagues were three of Australia’s finest jazz musicians: trumpeter Mat Jodrell, double bassist Cameron Undy, and multi-instrumentalist Paul Cutlan, who principally played alto saxophone and bass clarinet. Tedeschi, born in 1981, is one of Australia’s leading classical pianists, with a distinguished track record. Wikipedia tells us that, when he was only nine years old, he performed Mozart's Piano Concerto No 19 K459 in the Sydney Opera House. In 2004, he recorded Tchaikovsky’s 1st Piano Concerto and Grieg’s Piano Concerto with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra conducted by Richard Bonynge. That’s just a couple of Tedeschi’s stellar achievements as a classical musician. Still, as this gig at The Lounge approached I was genuinely wondering: how would he fare as a musician in a jazz context?