Paul Kelly & Paul Grabowsky
Australian music royalty Paul Kelly & Paul Grabowsky unite to present pieces from their ARIA-winning album Please Leave Your Light On.
Paul Kelly and Paul Grabowsky are each regarded as the poet laureate in their chosen field - Kelly is counted amongst Australia’s most lauded wordsmiths. Long heralded as Australian national treasure, Kelly boasts a long and illustrious musical career spanning decades and multiple genres, producing great Aussie anthems like ‘How To Make Gravy’ and ‘To Her Door’. In his own right, Grabowsky has made his mark in the music world, with the composer long recognised as Australian jazz royalty, having won multiple ARIA’s and Helpmann awards to recognise his outstanding talent.
A pioneer of the Australian music scene, Kelly co-wrote the iconic and moving protest song ‘From Big Things Little Things Grow’ with prominent Indigenous artist Kev Carmody in 1991, which remains a historical symbol of Indigenous freedom, as well as a much-loved tune.
Following a one-off performance in 2019 at the bespoke arts space UKARIA in the Adelaide Hills, they concurred that this collaboration deserved further development.
Their live performances feature works from the album, taken mainly from Kelly’s vast catalogue, with Grabowsky, an astonishing musical polymath, giving the songs a fresh framework while not losing sight of Kelly's intent.
“Masterful”
- Sydney Morning Herald
“The reason I love working with Paul is that he always surprises me,” says Kelly. “He’s endlessly fertile, turning my songs inside out and upside down – to quote Diana Ross – and finding things in them I didn’t know were there. And that makes me sing them differently. Singing with Paul is like walking a tightrope. It’s as if we are acrobats together. We have to pay serious attention to one another to pull the songs off. I like that”.
Grabowsky added “Paul is a generous collaborator, always listening closely to what I am doing, and giving me the freedom to bring my own interpretation to the songs. I think people will hear, and hopefully enjoy, the deep communication that we are bringing to the performance.”