Social: CAPO gets in the right mood

Arriane Culnane with Tony Magee at Madame Yip's restaurant.

by Norma Allen

A girl in a brilliant red jacket, the Chinese colour of happiness and well-being, welcomed guests to Madame Yip’s restaurant in Dickson on Wednesday.

It was Shanghai Susie, better known as Jane Magnus, setting the scene for the launch of this year’s CAPO auction and ball. With the theme East meets West, the Capital Arts Patrons Organisation plans to re-create the opulent days of Shanghai and Singapore in the 1920s and ‘30s.

CAPO’s president, Susie Beaver, said that Old Parliament House has been chosen to suit the period, and members were already seeking auction items for the ball in August.

Jane Magnus, in Chinese costume for the
launch of CAPO 1996, with Wayne Williams
and Susie Beaver, CAPO's president.

CAPO will auction the items and distribute the proceeds to Canberra’s artists.

One of last year’s recipients, Katherine Harrington, was at Wednesday’s launch, telling of her new workshop equipment, purchased with her scholarship of $600. Katherine is a silver and goldsmith and is preparing for an end-of-year exhibition at Beaver Galleries. She is creating table settings in international styles for the show.

Danny Yip brought out the platters of Chinese dainties, Tony Magee showed off his Hard Rock Cafe Beijing shirt, Terry Weber and Wayne Williams mingled with Helen Morrison; and David and Romilly Madew, Robert and Fay Goddard, Lyn Cummings, Hugh Stowell, Sally McDonald, Ken Roberts and Monica Dean were there.

First published in The Canberra Times, April 15 1996

Preview: "KEEP UP YOUR STANDARDS" Robyn Archer and Paul Grabowsky in cabaret, by TONY MAGEE

Pianist, arranger and composer, Paul Grabowsky was in Canberra last week with chanteuse Robyn Archer presenting Keep Up Your Standards at the Canberra Theatre. Tony Magee caught up with Paul before the show to discuss his musical involvement with Robyn, plus a touch of the person behind the person.

  Keep Up Your Standards is a show which focuses on the notion of cabaret as an artform. It is also an overview of Robyn Archer's cabaret career to date and a summary of her personal interests within this medium. The show is not a collection of songs revolving around a story, a person, a composer - whatever. It is cabaret in the original sense as defined by German and French culture of the early part of this century - a vehicle for political and social statement - something which both Archer and Grabowsky plunge themselves into with particular relish.

  Most of the material has been chosen by Archer, though not all - there were the familiar (familiar to anyone who has ever compiled a cabaret) long sessions around a table, or perhaps spread all over a lounge-room floor, sifting through countless possible tunes/songs/ditties to include/rearrange/rewrite/throwout/never sing again/turn into a medley etc. Some of the material is from Archer's stable of proven stage winners. Other pieces are first time out - new for the show. Whatever the piece, the idea is to make it special. Sometimes this involves creating a completely new arrangement, possibly with a new musical style, or maybe just arranging for the instruments that will be available - piano, violin, percussion, accordion, guitar, double bass and trumpet in this case. Enter Grabowsky.

  Keep Up Your Standards is not the first time the two performers have worked together. In the late 1970's the phone rang at Paul's house. "The musical director for Robyn Archer's show, A Star Is Torn, is sick. Can you take over Paul?" Paul did.

   He sites one influence in his jazz piano playing as Bud Powell, although he hesitates to put too much weight on that one fact alone - fair enough too. Any musician who prides themselves as an innovator - and Grabowsky is definitely that - must have woven a complex web of influences from countless sources, resulting in one's own style and musical thought processes.

   Perhaps the culmination of Grabowsky's journey through music so far, is his most beloved pursuit - The Australian Art Orchestra. "How do you define the music that you play in this?", I asked. "Well - it's contemporary music" came the mournful reply. Definitely fed up with that question. But rightly so. There is no 'definition'. No convenient little box to put it into. The orchestra is made up of improvising musicians. Careful! This does not mean it's a jazz orchestra! What it does mean is that Paul's vision of a music of the future is one that combines composed and improvised music as equals. A wonderful and exciting vision.

Originally published in Canberra's Muse Magazine, April 1996