Shellie Morris, the powerhouse Indigenous singer-songwriter, effortlessly blends tradition with innovation, creating a sonic journey through her ancestral roots. Hailing from the Yanyuwa, Garrwa, and Gurdanji communities, Morris’ soulful melodies carry the weight of Indigenous stories, bridging the past and present. In the run up to, and immediately after Australia Day, Shellie and Elliott discussed […]
Read More… from Indigenous Singer-Songwriter, Shellie Morris Speaks with Elliott Wallace: Waralungku by Arrkula Yinbayarra
Our special guest is journalist and broadcaster John Highfield. Best known for his 35 years on ABC Radio, it is not so well known that John was a teenage employee of the Lee Gordon organisation in the early 1960s. His recollections are fascinating. Playlist Chubby Checker: The Fly […]
Read More… from Ep 2, Part 2: John Highfield on Lee Gordon
Australia may have “turned to America” during WWII, but culturally, it was still doggedly British. This changed in the 1950s. We look at one arbiter of the change – Lee Gordon – an American with a shady backstory who arrived in Sydney in 1953 and within a year had created the Australian concert circuit! And […]
Read More… from Ep 2, Part 1: The Ginchiest
Our special guest to discuss the themes of the White Australia Blues episode is historian Deirdre O’Connell. She has written at length on the Sonny Clay tour and its background. Her extraordinary 2021 book, ‘Harlem Nights – the Secret History of Australia’s Jazz Age’ was hugely influential in the making of this episode. This interview […]
Read More… from Ep 1, Part 2: Deirdre O’Connell on White Australia Blues
The Immigration Restriction Act of 1901 heralded the White Australia Policy. This culture of whiteness would inevitably affect music in Australia. In this episode we look at the 1928 tour by Sonny Clay’s Colored Idea, the first African-American jazz band to tour Australia. We also look at ways the White Australia Policy continued to affect […]
Read More… from Ep 1, Part 1: White Australia Blues
Since 1974 the Open Academy at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music has opened the doors of the Conservatorium to the community through a wide range of programs, courses and workshops for school students, musicians, music teachers and to all those who are interested in learning more about music. Join Dan and Matt from Eastside’s ‘Blow’ […]
Read More… from In Conversation with the Conservatorium Open Academy
A series focussing on the intersection between music and history, The Intersection traces the evolution of ideas, social norms and cultural forms in Australia – and the characters and events behind them. Sometimes shocking, with dramatic twists along the way, be prepared for an immersive journey into the surprising moments that shaped our lives and […]
Read More… from The Intersection – Trailer
Ausmusic T-Shirt Day is an annual day of fun and awareness on Thursday 30 November to celebrate Aussie music and raise urgently-needed funds for music workers in crisis. Funds raised from the campaign go towards helping Support Act continue its crucial work supporting musicians, managers, crew and music workers through crisis relief, mental health and […]
Read More… from Interview with Clive Miller; CEO of Support Act about Aus Music Month and Aus Music T-Shirt Day
Trombone player, and band leader Alex Silver is featured in the Changing the Face of Jazz series . The series focuses on young women instrumentalists who have been making their names in jazz in recent years. Alex tells how, when faced with a choice between playing glockenspiel and trombone in a school band, she opted […]
Read More… from Changing the Face of Jazz With Alex Silver
Bass player Jess Dunn is the featured musician in this Changing the Face of Jazz. Jess says of herself that she came to playing music fairly late, by which she means her late teens. She progressed from a hand-me-down electric bass to a stand-up acoustic one and then developed a taste for jazz. She graduated […]
Read More… from Jess Dunn Making Jazz in Australia
