OUTinPerth’s Terry Larder chatted to Australian jazz legend James Morrison and renowned singer Deni Hines about their recent collaboration on the album The Other Woman.
Being acknowledged as a Member of the Order of Australia in 1997 was just one of the many accolades that James Morrison has had bestowed on him. Often described as a multi-instrumentalist skilled at the trombone, euphonium, flugelhorn, saxophone and piano, in the music world, James Morrison is best known as a virtuoso trumpet player.
With 21 albums to his credit, Morrison’s name is synonymous with the smoothness of jazz. Even so, he has had his fair share of embarrassing moments. Lucky for me, he was down-to-earth enough to share one such moment.
‘At the Davis Cup final in Spain, I was asked to play both the Australian and Spanish national anthems. This would have been fine, but someone slipped up along the long the way and gave me the wrong Spanish anthem. So here I am going for it and could see the crowd start to stir with looks of horror etched in their faces. It so happened I was given the wrong music sheet and was playing the old one. The revolutionary one… you know, down with the King and off with his head kinda thing. And sitting there in the Royal Box was no other than King Carlos of Spain himself! Someone in the Australian Foreign Affairs Department would have had a tough time explaining that one come Monday morning.’
Lucky for Golden Lips Morrison ‘The Other Woman’ does not include any national anthems, Spanish or otherwise, just brilliant jazz classics and an even more brilliant collaboration with Deni Hines.
‘She was damn good wasn’t she?’ James exclaimed. ‘We kept that album to a two day recording in the studio. I feel that jazz should not be “tweaked†and should be kept as pure and soulful as if you were listening to the event live. Recording quickly is the best way to keep the music honest, and after touring and recording for many years, the main focus of a musician becomes finding new ways to present the music they love to their audience. This album is an opportunity to collaborate with a vocalist coming from a different tradition to myself and to see where we meet. Developing ideas like this can often lead one in new directions that would otherwise perhaps not have been explored.’
According to Deni Hines, who has worked with some of the best in the business, as back-up singer to Kylie Minogue and INXS and has also forged a successful international solo career, the idea to for ‘The Other Woman’ came to fruition in an airport lounge while she was touring with Dusty, the Musical last year.
‘The idea of a collaboration with Morrison to record some of the jazz gems and then hopefully tour reached fruition of all things at an airport lounge. James was touring, one minute he’d be doing a gig in India then he’d be on a plane to Malaysia for another, it just seemed the only place to connect.’
For Deni, the possibility of collaborating with a virtuoso like Morrison on classic songs was obviously appealing.
‘I don’t read music, but these songs speak to you. Unlike pop, which has a usual use-by-date of six months, these classics are timeless. These have been sung by all the great female singers, so actually recording and singing these classics and working with James on this project was one of the biggest learning curves I have had in five years.’
While no dates have yet been released for the Hines/Morrison road show, there is talk that an August show might be on the cards. As Morrison has his pilot’s licence, let’s hope that it’s not to long before he and his 9-piece band, and that Other Woman, Deni Hines grace these shores, with what the East Coaster’s have lauded as ‘the best jazz show of the decade’. Until then, the album will have to suffice…
