Related Research Articles
The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of indigenous and Western styles are exemplified in the works of Yothu Yindi, No Fixed Address, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu and Christine Anu, and mark distinctly Australian contributions to world music.
Jet are an Australian rock band formed in 2001. Founding mainstays are brothers Nic and Chris Cester together with Cameron Muncey. They were joined in the following year by Mark Wilson. The quartet released three studio albums Get Born (2003), Shine On (2006) and Shaka Rock (2009) before disbanding in 2012. Get Born is their highest charting work, which peaked at number one in Australia, top 20 in the United Kingdom and top 30 in the United States. Its lead single "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" (2003) reached the top 20 in Australia and UK and top 30 in the US. Both Shine On and Shaka Rock are Australian top five albums, while their other top 20 singles are "Look What You've Done" (2004), "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is" (2006) and "She's a Genius" (2009).
Thirsty Merc are an Australian pop rock band formed in 2002 by Rai Thistlethwayte, Phil Stack, Karl Robertson (drums), and Matthew Baker (guitar). In 2004, Baker was replaced by Sean Carey, who was, in turn, replaced by Matt Smith in 2010. Thirsty Merc have released one extended play, First Work, and five studio albums: Thirsty Merc, Slideshows, Mousetrap Heart, Shifting Gears, and Celebration. The band have sold over 200,000 albums, toured extensively around Australia, and received national radio airplay for their tracks.
The Waifs are an Australian folk rock band formed in 1992 by sisters Vikki Thorn and Donna Simpson as well as Josh Cunningham. Their tour and recording band includes Ben Franz (bass), David Ross Macdonald (drums) and Tony Bourke.
Renée Rebecca Geyer was an Australian singer who was one of that country's finest jazz, soul and R&B musicians. She released 15 studio albums with Moving Along (1977) and Tenderland (2003) both reaching number 11 on the Australian charts. Geyer's singles success as a solo artist in Australia were with "It's a Man's Man's World", "Heading in the Right Direction" and "Stares and Whispers" in the 1970s and "Say I Love You" in the 1980s. The latter also reached number one in New Zealand. The singer was an internationally respected and sought-after backing vocalist, whose session credits include work with Sting, Chaka Khan, Toni Childs, Joe Cocker, Neil Diamond, Men at Work and Trouble Funk.
The Sleepy Jackson are an Australian alternative rock band formed in Perth, Western Australia. The band's name was inspired by a former drummer who was narcoleptic. The band revolves around the distinctive vocal style of multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Luke Steele. Stemming from a musical family, Luke's father Rick Steele is a local blues musician, and two of Luke's siblings are also musicians, with brother Jesse a former member of The Sleepy Jackson, and sister Katy, who fronts another Perth rock band, Little Birdy. While a series of acclaimed EPs brought The Sleepy Jackson to a broader musical attention of Australia, it was the release of their 2003 album Lovers and 2006 second album Personality – One Was a Spider, One Was a Bird that directed significant international focus upon the band.
Jazz music has a long history in Australia. Over the years jazz has held a high-profile at local clubs, festivals and other music venues and a vast number of recordings have been produced by Australian jazz musicians, many of whom have gone on to gain a high profile in the international jazz arena.
Bernard Francis McGann was an Australian jazz alto saxophone player. He began his career in the late 1950s and remained active as a performer, composer and recording artist until near the end of his life. McGann won four ARIA Music Awards between 1993 and 2001.
Maxwell James Merritt was a New Zealand-born singer-songwriter and guitarist who was renowned as an interpreter of soul music and R&B. As leader of Max Merritt & The Meteors, his best known hits are "Slippin' Away", which reached No. 2 on the 1976 Australian singles charts, and "Hey, Western Union Man" which reached No. 13. Merritt rose to prominence in New Zealand from 1958 and relocated to Sydney, Australia, in December 1964. Merritt was acknowledged as one of the best local performers of the 1960s and 1970s and his influence did much to popularise soul music / R&B and rock in New Zealand and Australia.
William Thomas Emmanuel is an Australian guitarist. Originally a session player in many bands, he has released many award-winning recordings as a solo artist. In June 2010, Emmanuel was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM); in 2011, he was inducted into the Australian Roll of Renown. In 2019, he was listed by MusicRadar as the best acoustic guitarist in the world.
Miroslav Bukovsky is one of Australia's leading jazz trumpeters and composer/arrangers.
Southern Sons was an Australian rock band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria in 1989 by members of The State along with lead vocalist and guitarist Irwin Thomas, who was then using the stage name Jack Jones. They are best known for their Australian top ten hits "Heart in Danger", "Hold Me in Your Arms", and "You Were There".
Terepai Chalmers Richmond is an Australian drummer. He joined the Sydney-based rock band The Whitlams in September 1999 and formerly played in acid jazz group Directions in Groove (d.i.g.).
Brian George Cadd AM is an Australian singer-songwriter, keyboardist, producer and record label founder, a staple of Australian entertainment for over 50 years. As well as working internationally throughout Europe and the United States, he has performed as a member of numerous bands including the Groop, Axiom, the Bootleg Family Band and in America with the Flying Burrito Brothers before carving out a solo career in 1972. He briefly went under the pseudonym of Brian Caine in late 1966, when first joining the Groop.
James Conway is an Australian harmonica player and with his brother, Mic Conway, was a co-founder of the 1970s humour, theatre and rock group, The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band.
Directions in Groove or DIG were an Australian acid jazz band which formed in 1991 by Alexander Hewetson on bass guitar, Terepai Richmond on drums and percussion, Rick Robertson on saxophone, Tim Rollinson on guitar and Scott Saunders on keyboards. Originally styled as dig they performed instrumental acid jazz before Saunders added vocals. They released three studio albums, Dig Deeper, Speakeasy and Curvystrasse. At the APRA Music Awards of 1996 they won Most Performed Jazz Work for their track, "Futures". They disbanded in 1998 before reforming in 2008 for selected performances and again 2011 to release a fourth studio album, Clearlight.
Douglas John Parkinson was an Australian pop and rock singer. He led the bands Strings and Things/A Sound (1965), the Questions (1966–1968), Doug Parkinson in Focus, Fanny Adams (1970–1971), the Life Organisation (1973), Southern Star Band (1978–1980) and Doug Parkinson Band (1981–1983). Doug Parkinson in Focus's cover version of the Beatles' track "Dear Prudence" peaked at No. 5 on the Go-Set National Top 40. The follow-up single, "Without You" / "Hair" (October), also reached No. 5. Parkinson released solo material and performed in musical theatre productions.
Diane Marie Jacobs, known as Dinah Lee, is a New Zealand singer who performed 1960s pop and adult contemporary music. Her debut single from early 1964, "Don't You Know Yockomo?", achieved No. 1 chart success in New Zealand and in the Australian cities of Brisbane and Melbourne. It was followed in September by her cover version of Jackie Wilson's, "Reet Petite", which also reached No. 1 in New Zealand and peaked at No. 6 in Melbourne. The Australian release was a double A-sided single with "Do the Blue Beat". On her early singles she was backed by fellow New Zealanders, Max Merritt & His Meteors. Lee appeared regularly on both New Zealand and Australian TV variety programs, including Johnny O'Keefes Sing, Sing, Sing and Bandstand. She toured supporting Johnny O'Keefe, as well as Ray Columbus & the Invaders and P.J. Proby. According to Australian rock music journalist, Ed Nimmervoll, in the 1960s, "Lee was the most successful female singer in both her New Zealand homeland and Australia ... on stage and on record Dinah had all the adventure and exuberance for the time the boys had".
Dirty Three are an Australian instrumental rock band, consisting of Warren Ellis, Mick Turner and Jim White (drums), which formed in 1992. Their 1996 album Horse Stories was voted by Rolling Stone as one of the top three albums of the year. Two of their albums have peaked into the top 50 on the ARIA Albums Chart, Ocean Songs (1998) and Toward the Low Sun (2012). During their career they have spent much of their time overseas when not performing together. Turner is based in Melbourne, White lives in New York, and Ellis in Paris. Australian rock music historian Ian McFarlane described them as providing a "rumbling, dynamic sound incorporated open-ended, improvisational, electric rock ... minus the jazz-rock histrionics". In October 2010, Ocean Songs was listed in the book 100 Best Australian Albums.
Jonathan Peter Zwartz is a New Zealand-born Australian jazz musician. In the 2018 ARIA Music Awards, he won the Best Jazz Album category for his third album, Animarum, released in 2018.
References
- 1 2 "Seat-of-the-pants advocate". The Age . 18 April 1986. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
- 1 2 3 4 "Bob Bertles Quintet". The Sydney Morning Herald . 11 November 2005. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
- ↑ "Max Merritt & the Meteors" . Retrieved 22 January 2010.
- ↑ ARIA Award previous winners. "ARIA Awards Best Jazz Album". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 25 June 2022.
| Authority control databases: Artists |
|---|
