The Melbourne Jazz Festival’s international guests have garnered considerable media attention. Here is a collection of newspaper, radio and television pieces featuring interviews with Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner and Chick Corea, as well as coverage of the Australian Jazz Awards.
NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
Review
The choice offered at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival this year has been extraordinary: half a dozen near-legendary US musicians and band leaders, 50 other players from countries as diverse as Israel, Cuba, Denmark and Brazil, plus 150 Australians.
Festival-goers have had the opportunity to hear live performers who they previously may only have known from their albums. All the US drawcards are in their late 60s and have impressive pedigrees – pianists McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock; saxophonists Dave Liebman and Pharoah Sanders; and vibraphonist Gary Burton – but arguably their best years are behind them.
McCoy Tyner – More than Technique
SOME simple advice from McCoy Tyner for young musicians: your technique might be brilliant, even pyrotechnic, but it’s not enough to get you anywhere.
“Look at music for what it is,” he says. “It’s not just about facility. Some guys think it’s all about technique and playing something like an exhibitionist, and it’s not really about that. Facility is important, but it’s about being able to use music to express your inner emotions to carry you to places.”
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Pharoah Sanders – A Walk on the Wild Side
Pharoah Sanders was the wildest sax player ever, feted by both John Coltrane and Iggy Pop, but he lost his way in the jazz-funk ’70s. He talks to Guy Blackman on the eve of his Melbourne performance.
In his prime, Pharoah Sanders was an unstoppable force. Described by the legendary Ornette Coleman as the best tenor saxophonist in the world, Sanders inspired jazz aficionados and rock stars alike. Detroit heroes the MC5 often covered Sanders’ Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt in its concerts, while Iggy Pop admits to borrowing from Sanders to create the Stooges’ classic, Little Doll.
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Pharoah Sanders – Tenor Titan
Throughout a career that included heralding the avant-garde jazz movement of the 1960s, American saxophonist Pharoah Sanders has remained a musician on a mission.
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Chick Corea and Gary Burton – A Lesson in Collaboration
American jazz greats Chick Corea and Gary Burton have created a performance “first” on their current Australian tour – one they are taking back to America.
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Tal Wilkenfeld – Back to Home Bass
CHICK Corea introduced his bass player last at Bennett’s Lane Jazz Club on Thursday night. “Don’t let this lady’s appearance fool you,” he joked. “She’s actually 52 years old.”
For the fortunate few who had guessed or fluked their way into this “secret” gig by the American giant of jazz fusion, that was almost easier to believe than what we witnessed.
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Don Burrows Inducted into Hall of Fame
One of the country’s best-known jazz musicians, saxophonist and flautist Don Burrows, was last night inducted into the Australian Jazz Bell Awards Hall of Fame.
The 74-year-old, now living in East Gippsland, has been at the forefront of Australian jazz for nearly 60 years.
He was the first Australian jazz artist to win a gold record and has notched up more than 40 recordings.
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RADIO
ABC Radio National’s Andrew Ford talks to:
McCoy Tyner
Chick Corea
Herbie Hancock
TELEVISION
Herbie Hancock on ABC TV’s 7.30 Report
Read the transcript and/or watch Kerry O’Brien’s interview with the legendary pianist.
Melbourne Jazz Festival program
