THE AUSTRALIAN

The Australian has been Australia’s national newspaper since 1964. This folder contains reviews and articles written by Eric Myers and published in The Australian since September, 2015. Text published in the newspaper is reproduced here, with the addition of photographs which may or may not have appeared in The Australian.

BRANFORD MARSALIS: SAX MACHINE

Article by Eric Myers

Culture, Weekend Australian Review Annual 2019

November 17-18, 2018

Since the early 1980s, the American saxophonist Branford Marsalis has not only become known around the world as a jazz musician and turned up in rock or pop music contexts (Sting, The Grateful Dead), he has also taken on classical music, a genre with its own immense challenges. While certain distinct approaches are inherent in each genre, Marsalis points to something that unites them all…

OBITUARY: HORST LIEPOLT 1927-2019

by Eric Myers

The Australian, January 15, 2019

Influential in three cities — Melbourne, Sydney and New York — Horst Liepolt came from an artistic family. His grandfather was a classical oboe player, his mother a concert pianist, and his father a writer. In 1944, aged 17, he heard Louis Armstrong’s Savoy Blues, which changed his life. That year was a crucial turning point, which explains why the club he opened in Melbourne in 1957 was called Jazz Centre 44, and his record label, established in 1975, 44 Records…

INDIAN VISITORS HELP TO BRIDGE THE GENRE GAP

Reviewed by Eric Myers

The Australian, January 15, 2019

This sold-out concert was the culmination of a monumental project in melding Indian music and Western jazz. More than 1,000 people, alive to a special sense of occasion, reacted enthusiastically to the music, contributing to the generosity of spirit in the air. Twenty-three musicians were packed onto the stage. They included the Sydney tabla player Bobby Singh, plus two Indian visitors Aneesh Pradhan (tabla), and Sudhir Nayak (harmonium). Behind them was the rhythm section of the Sirens Big Band. The third Indian visitor, Hindustani classical singer Shubha Mudgal, took centre stage. The principal composer Sandy Evans conducted, facing the audience when playing her saxophone solos…