National Jazz Writing Competition

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2007

In 2007 the National Jazz Writing competition focused again on reviews of Australian jazz recordings and performance.

The judges

Judges for 2007 represent the spectrum of Australian jazz expertise from education, performance, composition, writing and broadcasting; each is outstanding in their respective field

• Allan Browne, musician and poet who has been on the panel since the competition’s inception
• Matt McMahon, pianist and composer who also won the National Jazz Awards in 1999
• Andrew Ford, writer, composer and broadcaster, known to many through his program The Music Show on ABC Radio National

The winners

1st Prize - $750 and national publication

Michael Webb

Growing up in Papua New Guinea, Michael rarely heard jazz but he was encouraged to be culturally and musically curious. In his teens in 1971, he clearly remembers the day that Louis Armstrong died, and he later discovered jazz through both the great bop trumpeters and 1970s fusion. Studying ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University in the 1990s offered direct contact with Karnatic, Indonesian, West African and Japanese musics, and Alvin Lucier, Anthony Braxton, John Zorn and others. Michael finds inspirational the musicians and musical projects of the AAO, and the diversity and originality of contemporary Australian jazz. He currently lectures in Music Education at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, The University of Sydney.

CD Reviews: Phil Slater Quartet, The Thousands, Andrea Keller Quartet, Little Claps

Gig review: Adrian Sherriff Band at the Seymour Centre, Sydney

2nd Prize - a CD pack to the value of $300 and national publication

Keith Penhallow

Keith attended his first jazz concert in 1958, aged thirteen, when he saw the Chris Barber Band in London. He also listened to Jazz Club on BBC radio and a major influence was Joe Harriott.

Ray Charles became a big favourite and he remembers seeing Ella Fitzgerald and Oscar Peterson in concert in 1965, but then rock took over.

He rediscovered jazz in 1974 when he heard Chick Corea’s Return To Forever. He now buys as many CDs and attends as many gigs as possible and he loves to hear what the young players are doing.

CD Reviews: Zoe and the Buttercups, Zoe and the Buttercups, Marc Hannaford, The Garden of Forking Paths

Gig Review: The Sylvia Mitchell Trio at the Cafe of the Gods in Canberra