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Rob Garratt
UK-born, HK-based jazz fan and writer
About Me
Rob has been writing about jazz for more than a decade, for publications from stuffy newspapers to mainstream entertainment magazines and forgotten blogs. He’s always found it both the most difficult, and most rewarding subject to write about – despite the fact he seemingly always has so much to say about jazz. Career highs to date include interviewing personal heroes Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin and at least seven other people who have once shared a stage with Miles... and once fluffing the head to Freddie Freeloader at a public jam session. After working as a journalist in both London and Dubai, Rob is now a freelance writer-for-hire based in Hong Kong.
My Articles | Year End Picks | Album ReviewsMy Jazz Story
I love jazz because it moves me and mystifies me like nothing else on earth.
I was first exposed to jazz in my mid-teens when I realised I was only listening to rock n’ roll for the solos.
I met Herbie Hancock, and I still get goosebumps thinking about it.
The best show I ever attended was Wayne Shorter at Barbican Centre (October 2011).
The first jazz record I bought was Kind of Blue–sorry, but, no… not sorry at all
My advice to new listeners... Just. Keep. Listening.. Find a sound you like and try focusing on just a single instrument at a time.
I’ve always felt the beauty of jazz is its peerless ability to thrill both the intellect and the instinct simultaneously–all the passion, fire and spontaneity of the rawest,
most primal music forms, coupled with as much (or as little!) complexity and virtuosity of any symphony… it is the most ideal form of musical expression–creatively,
technically and emotionally.
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