Des Cowley

2018 Melbourne International Jazz Festival

ABR Arts • 14 June 2018

One of the key issues addressed by the twenty-first Melbourne International Jazz Festival (MIJF) is the role of women in jazz. In the wake of the #MeToo movement, there has been much debate around gender equality in jazz, including inevitable references to jazz as a ‘boys’ club’. While there has never been a shortage, historically, of renowned female singers, it is sadly the case that most o ... (read more)

The Calling (fortyfivedownstairs)

ABR Arts • 07 May 2018

The Calling is the fourth in a series of five large-scale concerts, each featuring a different ensemble, being performed at fortyfivedownstairs by multi-instrumentalist and composer Adam Simmons throughout 2017–18. The overarching title of the series, ‘The Usefulness of Art’, is inspired by a quote from sculptor Auguste Rodin: ‘I call useful all that gives happiness.’ In an age when the ... (read more)

Travelling Tales (fortyfivedownstairs)

ABR Arts • 11 December 2017

Travelling Tales is the third instalment in a series of five concerts, entitled ‘The Usefulness of Art’, by multi-instrumentalist Adam Simmons, all taking place at fortyfivedownstairs. The first, Concerto for Piano and Toy Band, was performed in March this year, and the second, The Usefulness of Art, in August. The final two instalments are scheduled for May and July 2018. Travelling Tales wa ... (read more)

Des Cowley reviews 'The Library: A catalogue of wonders' by Stuart Kells

Online Exclusives • 06 December 2017

In 2002, journalist Guy Rundle published a piece devoted to the little-known visit by Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges to Melbourne in May 1938. During his ten-day stay, Borges spent time in the domed reading room of the State Library, a place he found ‘awe-inspiring, even overwhelming’. As a long-term reader of Borges, and having spent much of my working life at the Library, I felt elated ... (read more)

2017 Wangaratta Festival of Jazz & Blues

ABR Arts • 08 November 2017

It was always going to be a risky decision. Earlier this year, the Board of the Wangaratta Festival dispensed with the services of Adrian Jackson, the artistic director who shaped the style and content of the Festival since its inception in 1990. In recent years, a combination of reduced funding and unfortunate weather conditions led to a drop in visitor numbers, and there was clearly a sense that ... (read more)

The Usefulness of Art (fortyfivedownstairs)

ABR Arts • 28 August 2017

It seemed apt that Adam Simmons chose to perform his large-scale suite The Usefulness of Art in a space generally devoted to art and theatre, rather than in one of Melbourne’s jazz clubs. Incorporating visual design by Christine Crawshaw and Diokno Pasilan – wooden chairs hung from the ceiling amidst billowing clouds, recalling both a Duchamp readymade and a Magritte still life – the concert ... (read more)

2017 Melbourne International Jazz Festival

ABR Arts • 19 June 2017

Marking its twentieth anniversary, the Melbourne International Jazz Festival (MIJF) had much to celebrate in 2017. I can vividly recall the first Festival in 1998, a weekend-long event attended by what seemed like a handful of us, moving in unison between city venues. Even then, it proved a memorable experience, highlighted by three astonishing performances by Brad Mehldau, an up-and-coming pianis ... (read more)

Jazz Greats Weekend at Monash

ABR Arts • 29 March 2017

That Monash University has become a national leader in jazz studies is far from surprising when we consider the calibre of its teaching staff: pianist and composer Paul Grabowsky, saxophonist Rob Burke, trumpeter Paul Williamson, and trombonist Jordon Murray, among others. Students have had the opportunity to perform and record with visiting international artists such as Dave Douglas, Enrico Rava, ... (read more)

2016 Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and Blues

ABR Arts • 08 November 2016

Ahead of this year’s Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and Blues, Artistic Director Adrian Jackson acknowledged that while he had not intended to develop any specific theme for this year’s program, one had unwittingly emerged: the significant contribution of female musicians to jazz in this country. Thankfully, this was anything but a rallying cry for affirmative action: the composers and instrument ... (read more)

Des Cowley reviews 'Conversations in Jazz: The Ralph J. Gleason interviews' edited by Toby Gleason

November 2016, no. 386 • 25 October 2016

It is a testament to Ralph J. Gleason’s standing in the jazz community, at the time these interviews were made, that a composer of the stature of Duke Ellington would consider him a conversational equal. Says Ellington: ‘I feel like I’m on the same level with you because you have proven that you are a great listener.’ While far from a household name these days, Gleason’s contributions to ... (read more)