THE SCORE - MUSIC

The Age

Monday August 31, 2009

Compiled by MICHAEL DWYER, PATRICK DONOVAN and JESSICA

Surprise soundtracksINDIE filmmakers and musicians will stage a series of unpredictable unions in Undivided, a live event making its debut at Northcote Social Club on September 18. Local musicians Qua, Geoffrey O€™Connor and Philip Brophy (pictured) will unveil their live scores to a single short film by videographer Sarah Tamara Kaur. Nobody will be more interested than Kaur, who will hear the soundtracks for the first time on thenight.Carmen AussieLOVE, death, frocks, Olympian feats of vocal expression . . . just how hard can writing an opera be? This is the question posed by New Opera Ventures Australia, an initiative by Victorian Opera and Melbourne musical theatre company ChamberMade. NOVA wants to consider fresh concepts, scripts and scores for potential workshopping next year. €śIt is important to fi nd out what Australians have brewing in their back pockets,€ť says Victorian Opera€™s musical director Richard Gill. So get that overture off your tram ticket and in to NOVA by 9am on November 9.More at chambermade.org.au and victorianopera.com.auLittle at largePRECIOUS few pop singers pull off a comeback at the age of 62. Even fewer stick around to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the comeback. Jimmy Little€™s (pictured) inspired interpretive album of 1999, Messenger, attracted a stack of awards, a broad new audience, an honorary doctorate, an ARIA Hall of Fame seat and a Living National Treasure nod from the National Trust. After a few years of poor health, the Yorta Yorta crooner replays the certified classic at the Corner Hotel on September 29. His guest is Melbourne singer-songwriter James Henry, who€™s lucky enough to call Uncle Jimmy his grandpa.Stone the CrowsCOUNTRY rock band the Black Crowes (pictured) have gone from being major label heroes to fl agbearers for the independent movement. Next week, the band will release two new albums through unusual means. Before the Frost . . . will come out on its own label Silver Arrow (distributed locally through Stomp), and they will be giving away a second album, called . . . Until the Freeze, through a unique download code included in the Frost CD. Two-for-one counts for little if they don€™t live up to the band€™s high-water mark, Shake Your Money Maker. Sample the first single I Ain€™t Hiding on Stomp radio. stomp.com.au/radio-stomp.aspxMasekela reduxONE of South Africa€™s musical heroes, Hugh Masekela, is coming to Australia in October. The jazz trumpeter, flugelhorn player, singer and composer has just turned 70, but by all reports his performances are as inspirational and energetic as ever. Masekela became an international star during his three decades of self-imposed exile from South Africa, but his music has always been rooted in the struggles and hopes of his people. He will lead a five-piece band at Hamer Hall on October 8. theartscentre.com.au

© 2009 The Age

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