Jazz is the reason...

Let's be really clear. I am not, not, not a jazz expert. I just enjoy listening, and I am a fervent admirer of the art form of Jazz. In fact, I cannot imagine life without this type of music now.

If you've heard me speak, you might have heard me talk about how jazz managed to set my creative energy free at a time in my life when I was thinking I might have lost the ability to write creatively.

I've always worked. In the late 1990s I found that it was getting harder and harder to find the time and energy to write. I kept putting energy into my career as a technical writer, but this was terribly frustrating because I was being driven - compelled almost - to do creative writing as well. The difficulty was that at about three-thirty each afternoon, I could feel all my creative energy just dissipating, out of my finger tips.

Then I went to a live gig. And I met a musician, and then some more musicians, and somehow ended up going to hear live jazz on a regular basis. It was like a magic potion. I could go home from work, eat my dinner, and then head out to a jazz gig. With the improvised music ringing in my ears, my writing started to flow again. It was with the help of jazz that I found myself able to keep writing and also keep earning a living.

The jazz community and live jazz music have become important parts of my life. I enjoy talking to musicians about the creative process and the music keeps me sane.

Jazz Links

Jazz Australia

A great Australian jazz website. Check out the articles written by Miriam from time to time :-)

www.jazz.org.au

AllAboutJazz.com

A US-based jazz resource. Read by fans and musicians all over the place.

www.allaboutjazz.com

Birdland Records

A great place to buy your jazz discs.
www.birdland.com.au

Some random jazz sites

www.ozjazzforum..com (an Australian jazz discussion board established in April 2001)