The Music Show

An hour with two Irish living legends, singer songwriter Lisa O’Neill and concertina master Cormac Begley. Both stalwarts of the Irish traditional music scene, they united for an intense, wailing version of All the Tired Horses which was used in the final moment of Peaky Blinders.They play live and talk to Andy about what tradition means, how new writing can sing alongside the old songs, and the highs (piccolo) and lows (bass) of having a concertina collection.Including live performances of:All the Tired HorsesThe Green Groves of ErinTo WarOld NoteWhen Cash Was KingO’Neill’s March/Croppy CroppyTechnical production by Tom Henry, Tim Symonds, Olivia Aquilina and Ann-Marie DebettencorWOMADelaide technical crew Alex Mollison, Jess Wolfendale, Jamie Mensforth, Cambell Lawrence, Alex Hadden, Jared Jackson, Greg Pickle, Ryan O'DeaWith special thanks to Tiki Menegola and Tayla CarlawThe Music Show was produced this week on Gadigal and Kaurna Country

The Music Show is back on Kaurna Land at Adelaide's Botanic Park for WOMADelaide 2024, a festival celebrating music from all over the world.Marta Pereira da Costa was the first woman to make a career as a Fado guitarist. From Lisbon, Portugal, she gave up a career as a civil engineer to pursue the music full time and keep Portugal’s major musical tradition alive.The Good Ones formed in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda as a way of processing, healing and finding hope. There is a universality to their sound—fingerpicked acoustic guitar, simple percussion and haunting harmonies, which is deeply affecting even if we don't speak Kinyarwanda.Katanga Junior grew up in Tanzania's mountainous region of Arusha, but he now calls Mparntwe/Alice Springs home. His style ranges from acoustic folk to hip hop to reggae, and he brings a unique sound and perspective to the vibrant music scene of Central Australia. Performed live by Marta Pereira da CostaTerraDia de FeiraPerformed live by The Good OnesThe FarmerMon CheriPerformed live by Katanga JuniorKwenye MaishaMapenzi BusinessTechnical production by Tom Henry, Tim Symonds, Olivia Aquilina and Ann-Marie DebettencorWOMADelaide technical crew Alex Mollison, Jess Wolfendale, Jamie Mensforth, Cambell Lawrence, Alex Hadden, Jared Jackson, Greg Pickle, Ryan O'DeaWith special thanks to Tiki Menegola and Tayla CarlawThe Music Show was produced this week on Gadigal and Kaurna Country

Windborne are a vocal quartet from New England in the US. Their tagline is 'old songs, bold harmonies' and their varied repertoire puts Corsican polyphony next to 17th Century English protest songs. They’ve found a huge following online in recent years, thanks in part to a performance outside of Trump Tower. They’re in the country for a string of local shows and festival appearances and they perform live in our music studio.Yorta Yorta musician and storyteller Allara is also in our studio this week. Allara brings her poetry to life armed with a double bass, looping pedal and electronics. She chats to Andy about learning her Yorta Yorta Language and the enduring legacy of her old bandmate Archie Roach (she’s performing on the Archie Roach Foundation stage at this year’s Port Fairy Folk Festival). Windborne live in The Music Show studio (ABC: Ellie Parnell)

With sixteen albums and five Grammys under her belt, Angélique Kidjo doesn’t need much of an introduction. She’s back in Australia to perform songs from her 2021 album Mother Nature as well as gems from her catalogue that highlight her infectious energy, dazzling array of influences and multi-language pop music. Supporting most of her tour is Maatakitj (the stage name of Noongar song-maker, composer, and academic Clint Bracknell). In this special double-header interview Angélique and Clint reflect on performing in languages most of their audience don’t understand, whether music can be an ambassador, and why it’s more important than ever for us to dance. Mezzo-soprano Anna Dowsley makes her home in Germany’s opera houses these days, but she’s back on her home soil for a run of concerts with the pianist Michael Curtain, tackling a body of work called Cabaret Songs by American composer William Bolcom and the late “theatre poet” Arnold Weinstein. Even though they were written in the 70s and 80s, these songs have something distinctly 1930s about them, but also a sharp contemporary wit. Anna and Michael join Andy in studio to play selections from Cabaret Songs live and delve into this eccentric collection. 

The Music Show is about the creation and enjoyment of music.

Joseph Keckler creates operatic monologues that cover subjects such as psychedelic mushroom trips, haunted houses, and buying a jacket. He also does Schubert lieder. He’s about to tour to Australia with no-wave legend Lydia Lunch and joins Andy to unpack his unique sound and influences.Mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis makes her Australian debut with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and conductor Jaime Martín for Mahler’s 3rd Symphony. She’s a booked and busy opera performer too, with repertoire as varied as classics like Verdi’s Aida to contemporary remounts like X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X and world premieres like 10 Days in a Madhouse.

Arooj Aftab’s 2021 album Vulture Prince took her ten years to write, and for the final two she had to shut all other music out of her life. “I just was trying to make a thing that didn't have a blueprint" she says, of an opus that combines jazz, experimental electronica and Sufi devotional music with her own unique voice. She's about to tour the album here and looks back at over a decade of work with Andy before she hits Australian stages.When Notre-Dame caught fire in 2019, playwright Alana Valentine was amongst those moved by the sight. That emotional response eventually sparked a collaboration with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, fittingly called Notre-Dame, which uses a narrative poem to tell the story of the disaster and the long life of the cathedral. Plus new music from Kirin J Callinan and Cameron Undy.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra's Ruban Nielson on the band's latest and fifth album V, which combines reggae with Hawaiian music and psychedelic rock. But rather than being a deliberate fusion, V is instead a reflection of Nielson's roots, ranging from a family legacy of Hawaiian reggae, Māori and Hawaiian heritage, and Auckland's punk scene's DIY ethics.Soprano Katharine Dain's album Forget This Night takes Lili Boulanger's sensual song cycle Clairières dans le ciel as a springboard for a collection of music about desire and impermanence, with other songs by Grażyna Bacewicz and Karol Szymanowski. Katharine joins Andy to trace the stories and songs of three very different composers. Plus new music from Leyla McCalla.

Lonnie Holley has dedicated his life to art, but his music career – as a recording artist at least – only started at the age of 62, decades after he became a sculptor displayed at the White House and collected by The Met, The Smithsonian, and the Art Gallery of NSW. He grew up in Jim Crow era Alabama and suffered a huge amount of abuse at the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children, which has always informed his art and his music.  His first album came out in 2012 and his most recent, Oh Me Oh My, came out last year. He’s back in Australia to perform live with Moor Mother and Irreversible Entanglements.Liquid Pearls is a duo performance by harpist Hannah Lane and viola da gamba/lirone player Laura Vaughan, and it takes that name from a 1500s madrigal: “from her eyes, Cupid scattered liquid pearls…”. Hannah and Laura join Andy to perform live in studio, demonstrating how their exploration of 16th and 17th century Italy and Spain has resulted in something simultaneously “organic and rarified”.

Embarking on a nautical adventure this week, Andy is welcomed onboard the ‘floating cultural platform’ known as the Arka Kinari, sailed by musical duo Grey Filastine and Nova Ruth. Made of steel intended for a Nazi U-Boat, this seventy-tonne schooner has been fitted out as an eco-touring venue, and after leaving home waters in Indonesia last month is currently visiting Australia for a run of shows.Pitjantjatjara singer and songwriter Frank Yamma was born into music, and has since had a long and storied career. In the desert, he’s a hard rocker, and in the cities he plays “slow style”. He joins Andy in The Music Show studio ahead of a national tour to play songs from his city repertoire, and talk about his life and work.