The Necks at 25

a changing same?

Authors

  • Tony Mitchell University of Technology, Sydney

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/prbt.v14i1.55

Keywords:

Australian jazz, improvised music, UK jazz criticism, US jazz criticism

Abstract

This article argues that the Sydney-based jazz improvisers The Necks have pursued a successful career over 25 years despite the scathing review given them by prominent US jazz critic John Litweiler, and that contrary to Litweiler’s account, they in fact form part of a continuing tradition (a ‘changing same’) in jazz started by Miles Davis’s album Kind of Blue. The article consists mostly of a discussion between the author and group members Chris Abrahams and Lloyd Swanton.

Author Biography

Tony Mitchell, University of Technology, Sydney

Tony Mitchell is an honorary research associate at the University of Technology, Sydney. His most recent book is co-edited with Glenda Keam, Home, Land and Sea: Situating Music in Aotearoa New Zealand (Pearson Education, 2011).

References

Burns, Ken. 2001. Jazz: The Story of American Music. PBS Home Video DVD.

Clare, John. 1995. Bodgie dada and the Cult of Cool. Sydney: University of New South Wales Press.

Dyer, Geoff. 2007. ‘Living with Music: A Playlist’. New York Times, 18 July.

Jones, Leroi. 1998 [1968]. Black Music. New York: Da Capo.

Litweiler, John. 1984. The Freedom Principle: Jazz After 1958. New York: Da Capo.

——2009. ‘The Necks in North America’, 3 February. SIMA website. http://www.sima.org.au/Home/630/n/3/0/0/ (accessed 12 March 2010).

Shand, John. 2009. Jazz: The Australian Accent. Sydney: UNSW Press.

Swanton, Lloyd. 2009. ‘Lloyd Swanton Replies to John Litweiler’, 17 March. SIMA website. http://www.sima.org.au/Home/630/n/3/0/0/ (accessed 12 March 2010).

Walters, John L. 2002. ‘Eureka!’ The Guardian, 29 November.

Whiteoak, John. 1999. Playing Ad Lib: Improvisatory Music in Australia 1836–1970. Sydney: Currency Press.

——2009. ‘Improvisation and Popular Music’. In Sounds of Then, Sounds of Now: Popular Music in Australia, ed. Shane Homan and Tony Mitchell, 37–60. Hobart: Australian Clearinghouse for Youth Studies.

Williams. Richard. 2009. The Blue Moment: Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue and the Remaking of Modern Music. London: Faber.

Published

2013-10-18

How to Cite

Mitchell, T. (2013). The Necks at 25: a changing same?. Perfect Beat, 14(1), 55–77. https://doi.org/10.1558/prbt.v14i1.55

Issue

Section

Articles