The Music Show

From the very first shot of John Travolta strutting his stuff down a busy New York street, Saturday Night Fever is an iconic film, and the music is even more iconic. Well, the five Bee Gees’ tracks that occupied side A are anyway—don’t get music writer Clinton Walker started on the ‘highway robbery’ of making fans pay for a double-album just to get those songs!Clinton Walker brings disco fever to The Music Show and explains the Australianness of the film and its soundtrack, thanks in large part to Adelaide-born producer Robert Stigwood and the Bee Gees who we claim as our own.Clinton Walker's book Soundtrack From Saturday Night Fever is published by Bloomsbury.

JADE Ensemble are four Brisbane-based musicians who compose and improvise across musical styles: Wakka Wakka man and didgeridoo player David Williams, Japanese koto master Takako Haggarty, Nepalese tabla virtuoso Dheeraj Shrestha and guitarist/composer Anthony Garcia. Anthony and Takako join Andrew ahead of a performance at Brisbane Powerhouse next week to share how each member contributes equally to the group’s unique sound world while retaining their strong cultural identities.Dharug composer Christopher Sainsbury has been writing guitar music that’s been played by guitarist Ken Murray for the best part of twenty years. Both are on The Music Show to talk about the endless possibilities of the instrument, how place can seep through in music, and the joys of bringing in other collaborators like soprano Merinda Dias-Jayasinha. 

Jerron Paxton’s music sounds like it could have been unearthed from a time capsule buried in the 1920s or 30s. His new album of original songs, Things Done Changed, finds the multi-instrumentalist playing guitar, banjo, piano and harmonica across blues, folk, ragtime and old-time Black music styles. He tells Andy about being glued to the radio as a young child, his deep love of acoustic instruments, and the recipe for his grandmother’s salmon court bouillon.Chloe Kim has been on The Music Show in the past in her capacity as a drummer, but this time she’s on as a sort of wrangler (and composer) for six double basses. One of the six, Jacques Emery, joins her to tell Andy about the premiere of Music For Six Double Bassists at Sydney’s Phoenix Central Park – and how this quiet, oddly fragile big beast of the orchestra can operate amongst its own kind. Music heard in the show: Title: Music for Six Double BassistsComposer: Chloe KimArtist: Paddy Fitzgerald (double bass), Oscar Neyland (double bass), Helen Svoboda (double bass), Harry Birch (double bass), Jonathan Zwartz (double bass), and Jacques Emery (double bass)Album: Music For Six Double BassistsLabel: People SoundTitle: What’s Gonna Become of MeComposer: Jerron PaxtonArtist: Jerron PaxtonAlbum: Things Done ChangedLabel: Smithsonian FolkwaysTitle: Things Done ChangedComposer: Jerron PaxtonArtist: Jerron PaxtonAlbum: Things Done ChangedLabel: Smithsonian FolkwaysTitle: Little ZydecoComposer: Jerron PaxtonArtist: Jerron PaxtonAlbum: Things Done ChangedLabel: Smithsonian FolkwaysTitle: Oxtail BluesComposer: Jerron PaxtonArtist: Jerron PaxtonAlbum: Things Done ChangedLabel: Smithsonian FolkwaysTitle: Music for Six Double BassistsComposer: Chloe KimArtist: Paddy Fitzgerald (double bass), Oscar Neyland (double bass), Helen Svoboda (double bass), Harry Birch (double bass), Jonathan Zwartz (double bass), and Jacques Emery (double bass)Album: Music For Six Double BassistsRecorded by Felix Abrahams and Nathan Moas, Audio courtesy of Phoenix Central Park and Judith Neilson AMTitle: EclipseArtist: Alter BoyAlbum: I Don’t Live Here AnymoreLabel: Independent releaseThe Music Show was produced this week on Gadigal, Gundungurra and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Land. Engineers were Tim Jenkins, Simon Branthwaite, John Jacobs and Brendan O'Neill. 

Bill Bailey is best known for his stand-up comedy, but one of his first public performances was a Mozart piano concerto, with his own cadenza, in his hometown of Bath. He joins Andy to explain what Mozart has in common with dancing on television, how timing is crucial to both comedy and music, and making sure there’s enough affection in his musical parodies.Modern troubadour Darren Hanlon has performed in hundreds of halls and pubs around Australia, and is on a mission to visit at least one new town per tour. His observational songwriting, sharp wit and catchy melodies earn him fans everywhere he goes. Darren is on The Music Show to reflect on a life on the road and talk about making his latest album Life Tax in an old church hall (he was able to record when the hall wasn’t being used for swing dance or yoga classes).

Composer, bass player and vocalist Esperanza Spalding has become one of the most important voices in 21st century jazz. She has also worked across almost every style of music with some legendary musicians (Wayne Shorter, Stevie Wonder, and Janelle Monáe to name a few). Her latest collaboration is an album with Brazilian singer songwriter Milton Nascimento and includes songs in Portuguese and English, as well as surprising covers of The Beatles and Michael Jackson.Melbourne-based Affinity Quartet drop by The Music Show studio to perform live. This award-winning ensemble has found considerable success in performance competitions both here and overseas. There’s a lot of repertoire out there for string quartets, and they let us in on their process for selecting and performing the classics, as well as commissioning new pieces from Australian composers like Alice Chance.

In Wangkatjungka, near Fitzroy Crossing in the Kimberley, Walmajarri Elder Kankawa Nagarra plays her guitar and sings the blues. Her latest album, Wirlmarni, was recorded in the desert with her great grandchildren at her feet, insects buzzing and the sound of kangaroo tails being wrapped in alfoil for the fire.Kankawa speaks to Andrew Ford about a life of music, from her earliest memories of traditional song and ceremony and then singing hymns in church after being removed from her family. Kankawa then discovered country and western and rock & roll on the radio while working on homesteads before finally hearing the blues, music that spoke to her soul. Kankawa got her first guitar in her 40s and taught herself to play the blues. Now in her late 70s, her songs speak of her life story, her community, and the fight to protect the land from threats like fracking.Scottish guitarist Sean Shibe was last on The Music Show from his locked-down home in 2021. Since then he’s toured with orchestras and eclectic ensembles across the world, and he’s about to make his Australian debut with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. He joins Andrew in studio with his guitar to talk about picking out his own path with the instrument.And we remember the legendary Quincy Jones, who has died at the age of 91. Kankawa Nagarra’s Wirlmarni is out now via Flippin Yeah and Mississippi RecordsKankawa is performing shows in Lismore on the 14th November, Brisbane on the 15th and Gympie on 16th, and is then joining Darren Hanlon on some dates of his Christmas tour. More details hereSean Shibe performs Scotland Unbound with the Australian Chamber Orchestra until 20 NovemberSean gives the Australian premiere of Thomas Ades Forgotten Dances on 15 November in Sydney

Punjabi Australian singer songwriter Parvyn returns to The Music Show to perform songs from her brand new album Maujuda; a seamless fusion of soul, jazz, disco and Indian classical and folk traditions.Elana Stone's new solo album Married To The Sound sees her songwriting tackling some of life's biggest moments. As one quarter of folk band All Our Exes Live In Texas and in-demand touring musician for the likes of Missy Higgins, John Butler and Kate Miller-Heidke, Elana also reflects on the highs and (sometimes) lows of a life married to music. 

We hear from this year’s four Boyer lecturers; pianist and writer Anna Goldsworthy​, violist and conductor Aaron Wyatt, composer, conductor and performer Iain Grandage, and Artistic Director of Gondwana Choirs Lyn Williams. They all reflect on the future of classical music in this country.Master of the Afghan rabab Qais Essar performs traditional Afghan music live in the studio, but also shares how important it is for him to push the instrument into "uncharted territory" in a time where its music is being banned in Afghanistan. He's joined by tabla player Aman Pal.

Some of the most prominent folk singers of the twentieth century like Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan were being surveilled and, in some cases, blacklisted by the FBI due to their political activism and ties to the U.S Communist Party.Writer and historian Aaron J. Leonard has written several books on the subject and is in to reveal why the US Government was so fixated on musicians in the 1940s and 50s, and what he unearthed from the FBI files he gained access to. Aaron J. Leonard's books on this subject include The Folk Singers and the Bureau: The FBI, the Folk Artists and the Suppression of the Communist Party, USA-1939-1956 and Whole World in an Uproar: Music, Rebellion and Repression - 1955-1972, both published by Repeater Books. 

London-based tenor saxophonist, bandleader and composer Nubya Garcia is in Australia for Melbourne International Jazz Festival and to play shows in support of her new album Odyssey. Featuring vocalists like Esperanza Spalding and string players from Chineke!, Nubya revels in expanding her sonic palette and pushing jazz into the realms of dub, R&B, soul and beyond. And, experimental trio Black Aleph are in to perform music live from their debut album Apsides. With a cello, guitar and daf (Persian frame drum) their sound is as expansive as it is unique, drawing inspiration from varied sources like Middle Eastern modal music and doom metal. They speak to Andrew about the role of improvisation and dark concepts in their music, and the joy of exploring sonic textures together.