Kate Ceberano pays tribute to Bob Dylan, image via MAPA.
Night two of Monash Academy of Performing Arts Jazz Greats Weekend at Monash University is about to begin. Grand piano, double bass, saxophone and drums stand ready as one of Australia’s most well-known jazz icons, Paul Grabowsky, walks to the piano. As a superb pianist, composer, arranger and conductor, Grabowsky has won many awards and recently been appointed as Executive Director of Monash’s Academy of Jazz. He takes delight in introducing the members of his quartet, Rob Burke on saxophone, Luke Andersen on drums and Jonathon Zion on double bass, explaining that the evening would be a jazz perspective of Bod Dylan’s ’embarrassingly diverse array of riches’ as he called them, including the Nobel Prize for Literature.
And, first off …’The Times They are a Changing’ which brought Dylan to attention in the 1960s and became the anthem for the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. It was probably one of the few songs, of the 900 Bob Dylan is rumoured to have written, that I recognised, as the ‘legend in our business’ introduced by Grabowsky, ‘wanted to sing some of the less familiar songs which had meaning for him’ and who was to argue with Joe Camilleri! The crowd roared with excitement as he burst onto the stage, guitar in tow, and began to sing ‘Times Have Changed,’ followed by a beautiful interpretation of Winterlude, accompanied only by Grabowsky on piano.
This was to be a night of talent roulette as Camilleri then left the stage to allow ‘one of the greatest singers in our nation’ lauded by Grabowsky, to enter, in the form of Kate Ceberano. Again the crowd went wild. It brought to mind that paradox about an immovable object meeting an unstoppable force, as the pair swapped places several times until the finale when both artists appeared together and it was akin to a Category 5 hurricane.
It would have been comforting to any students of the Monash Academy witnessing the masterful performances of these two adored celebrities to understand what a tough road it had been for them in the early days. Yet both, today, are not only at the top of their game but can afford to give something back. Camilleri is renowned for his support of Ten02, a charity educating and empowering youth and Ceberano has been honoured as a Member of the Order of Australia for her work for charity.
Their voices, their presence, their synchronicity with the band and their relationship with their audience would motivate any aspiring jazz singer. Ceberano has dabbled in pop, soul and jazz, but has always maintained a singular mellow quality in her voice that is essentially her own but her voice today has the maximum power needed to cover a vast vocal range. Her first song, ‘Make You Feel My Love,’ was delivered with such sensual, spellbinding control and passion that Grabowsky said ‘it must be what heaven sounds like!’
It seems that Dylan, besides being an incurable romantic, was also quite a religious man at different times in his life and I could forgive Ceberano for having to read the words for her next song, so poignant and full of his literary genius:
May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young.
Camilleri, on the other hand, cloning Bob Dylan’s voice, was a powerhouse of energy, using his guitar to effect in a space far too small. If, like me, you couldn’t decipher the words to ‘Forgetful Heart’ or ‘Just Like a Woman,’ it helped to remember John Lennon’s reply when Dylan asked him if he heard the words! ‘That doesn’t matter, just the sound is what counts and the overall thing!’ However I do feel a little tweaking of the sound system in that great hall could have helped.
Eventually, with both on stage, Camilleri could no longer contain his desire to grab his saxophone and play ‘Beyond here Lies Nothin’ manoeuvring Burke around the stage till the two could jam together, leaving Ceberano to shimmy over to them singing ‘I Shall be Released!’
Accolades must go in spades to the wonderful Paul Grabowsky whose fingers raced from one end of the piano to the other to keep up with this riotous but exhilarating scene.
The hall was in an uproar, everybody on their feet. It was simply magic!
Rating: 5 stars out of 5
Kate Ceberano, Joe Camilleri and the Paul Grabowsky Quartet
MAPA – Jazz Greats Weekend at Monash
Venue: Robert Blackwood Hall, Clayton Campus
Sunday, 26 March, 2017
