By John Shand, The Sydney Morning Herald This one instantly passes the hairs-on-the-back-of-the-neck test – that slightly creepy chill, not unlike the first waft of cool night air following a … Read More
John Shand
FEATURE: Lakecia Benjamin in The Sydney Morning Herald
By John Shand, The Sydney Morning Herald When John Coltrane visited Nagasaki on a Japanese tour in 1966, 21 years after the atomic obliteration, he was not with his band … Read More
REVIEW: Chase Baird Review by The Sydney Morning Herald
By John Shand, The Sydney Morning Herald A LIFE BETWEEN (Soundsabound) ★★★★ Perhaps it was inevitable that Chase Baird would be a jazz saxophonist, with his first name referencing a Coltrane … Read More
REVIEW: Aaron Whitby’s ‘Cousin From Another Planet’ Reviewed by The Sydney Morning Herald
By: John Shand, The Sydney Morning Herald Aaron Whitby – COUSIN FROM ANOTHER PLANET (Ropeadope) ★★★½ Music, like storytelling, is partly the art of balancing the predictable and the unpredictable. You lead … Read More
REVIEW: Brandee Younger’s ‘Soul Awakening’ Reviewed by The Sydney Morning Herald
By: John Shand, The Sydney Morning Herald You have to be equally committed and imaginative to even think about doing it. The harp first appeared in jazz in 1934, and a … Read More
REVIEW: Sydney Morning Herald Reviews Vivian Sessoms’ “LIFE II”
by John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald ★★★★ She’s spent her career enhancing the music of Michael Jackson, Donna Summer, Stevie Wonder, Cher, Chaka Khan, Pink and others. But, as with … Read More
REVIEW: The Sydney Morning Herald Reviews Jeff Coffin/Dave Liebman’s “On the Corner Live!”
John Shand, The Sydney Morning Herald ★★★★½ The impetus was Sly and the Family Stone’s In Time from the 1973 album Fresh, crowned by Andy Newmark’s drumming. Miles Davis walked into the rehearsal … Read More
REVIEW: Sydney Morning Herald Reviews Andy Milne’s “The Seasons of Being”
John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald Andy Milne & Dapp Theory THE SEASONS OF BEING (Sunnyside) ★★★★☆ Ah, the old chestnut of music and healing. Even born sceptics like me subscribe … Read More
REVIEW: Tim Haldeman’s “Open Water As A Child” Gets a 4.5 Star Review from The Sydney Morning Herald!
John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald If ever an opening line was going to transfix you, “I followed whiskey into the country of Legionella” should do it. The Kerouac-influenced poem Open Water is … Read More
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Jeff Siegel’s “London Live” Gets a 4-Star Review!
John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald Jeff “Siege” Siegel Quartet LONDON LIVE (ARC) ★★★★☆ No, I hadn’t heard of Jeff Siegel either, but the American drummer leads a storming band. This … Read More