The Long Player Sessions Sue Ray and Texas Tea, 23rd June 2012, Powerhouse Visy Theatre, Brisbane

This year Brisbane Powerhouse will be celebrating some of the finest
records ever dedicated to tape with a series of very special shows
dubbed the long player sessions
Staged across 3 separate nights in 2012 each session will find 2
Brisbane bands performing a classic album from start to finish

Tonight was the 1st night and first up Sue Ray performed
"My Baby Just Cares For Me" By Nina Simone  

It was a wonderful performance, very stylish in the Visy Theatre
which is a fairly small room and rather intimate environment.
Sue has an incredible voice and her band were without fault!

“When I was a teenager I had little appreciation for jazz music,
having grown up in a family of country/folk music fans. One day,
speaking out of ignorance, I joked that jazz music was horrible.
In an effort to make me eat my words, my friend gave me a copy
of "My Baby Just Cares For Me"
and when I heard it, I was immediately converted. It was my first
real taste of old school jazz, and it opened a door to a whole new
world of music. I find Nina Simone's life story truly inspiring
and a great influence over my own music and songwriting.
It's my favorite album of all time, it is very personal to me and
I wish to perform it as a tribute to my appreciation
and respect for the work and career of Nina Simone.”  - Sue Ray

As much as I enjoyed Sue it was Texas Tea We had come to see,
Kate and Ben along with their stand up bass player and drummer
performed Paul Kelly's classic album "Post"

From the opening bars of "From St Kilda to Kings Cross"
you knew it was going to be special and it was right to the end,
that most beautiful song "Little Decisions"

I have a bit of video from the night to give you an idea.
Ben sang a fantastic version of "Satisfy Your Woman"
and Kate pulled off an incredible unaccompanied version of
"You Can Put Your Shoes Under My Bed"
And a special mention for "Adelaide" which Kate says was
one of the first songs she ever learnt to play

Paul Kelly is one of Australia's great storytellers and one of Texas
Tea's most significant influences. Post, Kelly’s first solo album,
is said to be somewhat of a concept album with its recurring
themes of addiction.
The record showcases Paul Kelly's incredible talent for locality-based
stories (featuring tracks such as Adelaide and From St Kilda to
Kings Cross).The subject matter and low-fi / minimalist production
lends itself superbly to the Texas Tea aesthetic and Kate and Ben
are honoured to present their interpretation of Post

Blues For Skip, Adelaide and Satisfy Your Woman.



Little Decisions.

From Little Things Big Things Grow - The Get Up Mob

I was very excited to hear about this piece of musical political
activism, the anthem written by Kev and Paul by a waterhole,
around a camp fire in the early 90's, has been transformed
under the direction of Urthboy from the herd, into a inspirational
anthem for this country to move forward.
I know its never that easy, but music can change attitudes.

The apology to the Stolen Generations on 13 February 2008 marked a
place in Australian history that The GetUp Mob -
featuring Kev Carmody, Paul Kelly, Urthboy and Missy Higgins,
have commemorated with the release on April 21 of the new GetUp
StandUp version of
'From Little Things Big Things Grow'.

This is the first step, in a new beginning for Australia as a nation,
to mature, denial of the past makes the future a lie - through
history the victors have written the history of the vanquished...
this contemporised version of the song transforms us from a
negative concept of the past to the positive possibilities
of the future...as someone once said
'from little things big things grow'.

Kev Carmody

From Little Things Big Things Grow has its roots in songs like
Woody Guthrie's Deportees and The Lonesome Death
Of Hattie Carroll by Bob Dylan.
And those songs grew out of the soil of other older songs.
The Get Up Mob just added another branch to the tree.
Long may it fruit.

Paul Kelly

I see 'From Little Things Big Things Grow' as a soundtrack
to positive change in this country. If it serves to accompany �
regular Aussies� in pursuing their own form of practically
reconciling - then we're in business. As plain as the day
itself we need to close the health and access gap between
indigenous and non-indigenous people.

Tim Levinson - Urthboy

Some moments in a nation's history are so significant,
so uplifting and so unifying they become the inspiration
for artists, thinkers and dreamers.
They turn those moments into the food which nourishes
the nation's soul - this song captures the hopes and
dreams of a nation; a vision for a shared future and
a desire for that moment to become a springboard
towards equality.

Brett Solomon - Executive Director, GetUp

See the video here

Download here