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John Eyles
Writing about music is like doing a dance about architecture...
About Me
The first record I owned was “Twist & Shout” by The Beatles. The first album I bought was “Smiley
Smile” by The
Beach Boys, in 1967. The first jazz album I bought was “Filles de Kilimanjaro” by Miles, in 1968. The
first CD I
bought
was “Gaia” by Marilyn Crispell, in 1989. I haven't yet paid to download an MP3...
I started writing about jazz in 1992 when a friend asked me to be the jazz columnist for Murdoch's
TODAY
newspaper.
(Thanks, Nick.) TODAY closed down late in 1995. Since then I have written for many print-based and
web-based
media, although I have an uncanny knack of writing for publications that close down! (The
Independent Catalogue,
Rubberneck, Avant, Opprobrium, One Final Note, Paris Transatlantic, BBCi ...) As well as AAJ, I
currently write for
The
Squid's Ear — currently in good health! I have only ever parted from two publications on bad terms,
the first a
British-
based magazine that asked me to write a good review of a mediocre album as the label had bought
advertising
space
in the magazine, the second a US-based website whose editor asked me to rewrite my review of an
old album
because
my view of it did not agree with his; in each case, I declined and never wrote for them again.
When reviewing an album, I do not start
writing until I am
sure—
usually after at least ten listenings. I could never write a review after one or two listens. If I really
don't like an
album,
I'll usually leave it be. I would prefer poorer music to be neglected and fade away gracefully than to
be panned. If
I'm
not 100% sure, I'll include some suggested improvements.
For recreation I enjoy improvising using voice, alto or sopranino saxophone, and electronics. On
Sunday
21st June 2009 as part of the City of London Festival I was one of several hundred saxophonists
who crossed London Bridge into Southwark,
giving a special performance of “The Leviathan” composed by saxophone professor John Harle to
celebrate the City's 800th anniversary. For years I have been a
regular
participant at AMM drummer Eddie Prevost's weekly Friday evening workshop. I was a founder
member of the Mopomoso Workshop set up by guitarist John Russell. I am a member of the thirteen-member
London Experimental
Ensemble (whose album “Child Ballads: The Final Six” [Don Giovanni Records, 2023] was
nominated for Grammy awards in four categories in 2023); the London Improvisers Orchestra; the
Mopomoso
Workshop Group (a.k.a. MoWo); the
large (sometimes
one-hundred-member) ensemble Murmurists; the Noisy People's Improvising Orchestra….
