ESSAYS

This section includes essays on various jazz subjects, written by a number of writers. Contributions are welcome. Writers interested in contributing are welcome to contact the editor by filling out the form in the CONTACT tab. Photographs to illustrate those essays are welcome. Readers can click on the INDEX button for a list of articles in this folder.

SOME BRIEF COMMENTS ON JAZZ IN FILM

by Ian Muldoon

November 9, 2019

Out in western NSW at the beginning of the 20th century my grandfather encountered some Afghan camel drivers and their charges. Pleasantries were exchanged (possibly with some language difficulties) tea drunk and perhaps some food shared. At one point my grandfather assembled his wind-up record player and played a disc of an aria by Enrico Caruso at which point the camel drivers leapt to their feet, shouting, gasping, gesticulating at the sounds coming from wood, shellac and metal. Similar reactions were achieved with a much more sophisticated Parisian audience around the same time with a silent film of a train coming toward the audience causing that audience to scream, jump out of the way and generally behave like Afghan camel drivers…

TIM HOPKINS

Interviewed by Peter Smetana

Australian Jazz & Blues, Volume 1, No 3, 1994

Tim Hopkins is making an impression. Fresh from his first place win in the Wangaratta saxophone competition, and recordings with top bands like Paul Grabowsky, The Umbrellas, Vince Jones, and many more, he is riding the crest of a wave. With the release of his first album, this seemed like an opportune time to find out what makes him tick…

KEVIN HUNT

by Jill Morris

Australian Jazz & Blues, Summer Edition, 1993-1994

Kevin Hunt is one of those fortunate jazz pianists who is at home in a diverse artistic field of musical endeavour. He is comfortable playing with a big band, as a keyboardist with a TV studio orchestra, leading his own world music-inspired band The Commuters, or simply playing tasteful solo piano for patrons in a plush hotel. But let us not forget his role as assistant musical director for the international telecast of Pope John Paul's youth celebration in Sydney, when he organised for a rock band to accompany the 600-piece choir...