Baker Boy portrait wins 2024 Archibald Packing Room Prize

Matt Adnate’s portrait of Yolngu rapper Danzal Baker has won the Archibald Packing Room Prize.
(Bianca De Marchi/AAP PHOTOS)

By Samantha Lock in Sydney

The annual unveiling of Australia’s most prestigious art prize has kicked off with a portrait of an Indigenous rapper nabbing the staff-favourite award.

Matt Adnate’s dramatic portrait of Baker Boy – Yolngu rapper Danzal Baker – took out the the $3000 Packing Room Prize as finalists in the Archibald awards were publicly revealed on Thursday.

Accepting the honour at the Art Gallery of NSW, the former graffiti artist said he could never have dreamed of clinching such a coveted award after spending the first 10 years of his career “just painting letters”.

Behind him hung the paintings of 57 finalists for the annual $100,000 Archibald Prize, the nation’s premier award for portraiture.

“Growing up as a graffiti artist I never dreamed of being able to even name one of my artworks in a place like the Art Gallery of NSW,” Adnate told AAP.

The rap music fan added that he listened to Baker Boy while he painted.

“When you’re painting, you’re listening to eight-to-10 hours of music a day,” Adnate said.

“He’s an inspirational figure, not only is he an incredible musician but he also won Young Australian of the Year and he’s just in his 20s.”

The finalists included the highest-ever number of Indigenous artists among the cohort selected from more than 1000 entries.

Baker Boy said it was an honour to be included in the collection after his portrait took out the packers’ prize, which has been judged for more than 30 years by gallery staff who receive, unpack and hang the entries.

“Matt’s work tells stories, he captures great strength and vulnerability, but most importantly his work amplifies the voice of those he paints, which is very powerful,” he said.

A total of 138 finalists were announced for the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes on Thursday.

The Wynne Prize recognises either landscape paintings depicting Australian scenery or figure sculptures by local artists, while the Sulman Prize is for subject painting, genre painting or murals.

The winners of the three main prizes will be announced on June 7, with the exhibition running from June 8 until September 8.

First published at Canberra City News, via Australian Associated Press, May 30, 2024

David Sanborn, influential saxophonist whose work spanned genres, dies at 78

Saxophonist David Sanborn died Sunday afternoon after a years-long battle with prostate cancer. He was 78. 

(Martial Trezzini / Associated Press)

By Alexandra Del Rosario

Staff Writer 

May 13, 2024

David Sanborn, the influential saxophonist whose Grammy-winning career included collaborations with Stevie Wonder and David Bowie, has died. He was 78.

Sanborn died Sunday afternoon “after an extended battle with prostate cancer with complications,” his team said Monday in an announcement shared to his social media pages. A representative for Sanborn confirmed the details to The Times.

“Mr. Sanborn had been dealing with prostate cancer since 2018, but had been able to maintain his normal schedule of concerts until just recently,” his team said in an X (formerly known as Twitter) thread. “Indeed he already had concerts scheduled into 2025.”

Sanborn was known for luxurious saxophone melodies on songs including “Maputo,” but his sound — informed by R&B and global funk— and his legacy extended far beyond his jazz roots. Often perceived as a “smooth jazz” artist, Sanborn loathed that term.

“I sometimes get looped in with jazz musicians because I play sax and improvise,” Sanborn told The Times in 1996. “But if you know my music, you wouldn’t confuse it with jazz. There are certain stylistic and rhythmic elements that keep me from being in that category.”

Sanborn’s vast roster of elite session work and high-profile collaborators proved his range of influences. Stevie Wonder, the Rolling Stones and David Bowie were among Sanborn’s collaborators early in his career. After going solo in 1975, Sanborn worked with musicians including Paul Simon, James Taylor, Luther Vandross and Eric Clapton, according to his website.

Among pop and R&B fans, Sanborn is best known for his work on Wonder’s “Talking Book,” Bowie’s “Young Americans” and records by Bonnie Raitt and Chaka Khan.

Over the course of his career, Sanborn earned 16 Grammy Award nominations and six wins, including honors for his albums “Straight to the Heart” and “Double Vision,” a collaboration with keyboardist Bob James. Sanborn released 25 albums, including eight that went gold and one that achieved platinum status.

“David Sanborn was a seminal figure in contemporary pop and jazz music,” Monday’s statements added. “It has been said that he ‘put the saxophone back into Rock ’n Roll.’”

David Sanborn, pictured at the 2022 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, was “a seminal figure in contemporary pop and jazz music,” his team said in a statement. (Amy Harris / Invision / Associated Press)

Sanborn’s passion for the saxophone can be traced back to his childhood, when he contracted polio as a toddler and music was part of his treatment. By the time he graduated from the University of Iowa, Sanborn had played with guitarist Albert King and studied with studied saxophonist J.R. Monterose.

After joining the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the 1960s (he performed with them at Woodstock), Sanborn began a long, fruitful partnership with Miles Davis’ arranger Gil Evans. Then in 1975, the release of “Taking Off” marked the beginning of Sanborn’s solo career.

His 1980 LP “Hideaway” was steeped in funk and raw production (the track “The Seduction” was a theme for the film “American Gigolo”) and kicked off a decade-long bestseller streak that included 1981’s “Voyeur” and “As We Speak,” 1983’s “Backstreet,” 1984’s live LP “Straight to the Heart” and 1988’s “Close Up,” which incorporated electronics.

In 1991, Sanborn released “Another Hand,” perhaps his most beloved album among core jazz traditionalists. The project featured an incendiary band with Bill Frisell, Charlie Haden and Marc Ribot. Later in his career, Sanborn returned to his genre-expansive roots on albums like 2015’s “Time and the River,” an acclaimed LP that spanned Latin, African and soul rhythms. “This Masquerade,” released in 2018, was Sanborn’s most recent solo album.

Beyond music, Sanborn pursued a variety of TV and film opportunities.

 

From 1998 to 1990, he and pianist Jools Holland co-hosted the late-night TV series “Night Music” (also known as “Sunday Night), which platformed musicians including Sonny Rollins, Sun Ra and Sonic Youth. That program was produced by “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels.

He regularly hosted the “After New Year’s Eve” TV special on ABC and fronted his syndicated jazz program. The saxophonist wrote scores for the “Lethal Weapon” film franchise and frequently joined David Letterman’s live band. He also hosted the podcast “As We Speak” from WBGO Studios.

Sanborn, who channeled and contributed to a wide range of genres and mediums, brushed off the need for labels during his 1996 interview with The Times.

“If you shut out music because it doesn’t fit your preconceived listening patterns, you’re cheating yourself,” he said. “Opera, country, outside music, commercial music ... if you like it, it’s good. If it has meaning, use it.”

Alexandra Del Rosario is an entertainment reporter on the Los Angeles Times Fast Break Desk. Before The Times, she was a television reporter at Deadline Hollywood, where she first served as an associate editor. She has written about a wide range of topics including TV ratings, casting and development, video games and AAPI representation. Del Rosario is a UCLA graduate and also worked at the Hollywood Reporter and TheWrap.

First published at The Los Angeles Times, May 13 2024

Farewell Dinner and Presentation on board S.S. Orama, March 12, 1940

by Tony Magee

My grandfather on my Mother's side, Mr Clarence Boston, was Chairman of the Australian Aircraft Technicians during WWII.

This is the program for a Farewell Dinner and Presentation, including tongue-in-cheek menu and order of events for the evening of March 12, 1940 on board the Orient Line steamer S.S. Orama.

Orama was sunk three months later in June 1940*

I discovered it amongst a pile of papers in a desk just today (May 13, 2024) and reproduce below:

Builder: Vickers-Armstrong Ltd., Barrow-in-Furness, England, for the Orient Steam Navigation Co. Inaugural voyage London-Brisbane, November 1924. Base Port: London. Gross Tonnage: 19,777 grt. Dimensions: 201.m x 23m, draught 9m. Power: Six Parsons S.R.G. steam turbines @ 20,000 SHP. Service Speed: 20 knots. Screws: Twin. Passenger Decks: Eight. Crew: 420. Passengers: 590 first and 1240 third

Departure of the passenger liner SS Orama from Sydney on 10 January 1925.

Converted to a troopship in 1940, Orama was used to take members of the British Expeditionary Force to Norway after the German invasion. 

*On the 8th June 1940, she was 300 miles West of Narvik, Norway, together with the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious, two destroyers and an oil tanker, when she was spotted by aircraft from the German High Seas Fleet comprising Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Admiral Hipper. Orama was sunk losing 19 killed and 280 taken prisoner. 

One of those prisoners was Richard Flynn, Able Seaman, of Tramore, Co. Waterford.

Photos and above text from a website dedicated to Abel Seaman Richard Flynn, aboard Orama when she was sunk, taken as a POW. Link is here.

Additional information by Audrey Magee

As the family understands, the trip was undertaken for the purpose of a group on engineers doing a feasibility study for the Australian Government on the possibility of building Beaufort Bombers at the Railway Workshops at Chullora, NSW.

At the time, Dad was employed by the Railways as an engineer. 

The fact that a journal kept by my father contains no details of the study would be because of security concerns.

Note: The then Prime Minister of Australia, Mr Robert Menzies had announced that Australia was at war with Germany in September 1939, so the trip across was not without danger as already German submarines were active.

The Orama departed one month later on October 28, 1939

Switzerland's Nemo wins Eurovision Song Contest

May 12 2024

Nemo of Switzerland celebrates his win at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden. (AP PHOTO)

Swiss rapper and singer Nemo has won this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with The Code, a drum-and-bass, opera, rap and rock tune about Nemo’s journey of self-discovery as a non-binary person.

Billed as a feel-good celebration of European diversity, this year’s contest has been thrust into the political spotlight with calls for Israel to be excluded over its military campaign in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’ deadly attack on October 7 in Israel.

In accepting the Eurovision glass trophy on stage, Nemo said: “I want to say thank you so much, I hope this contest can live up to its promise and continue to stand for peace and dignity for every person in this world.”

“To know that a song that has changed my life and a song where I just speak about my story has touched so many people and maybe inspired other people to stay true to their story is the most insane thing that has ever happened to me,” he said during a press conference.

Cheers of joy broke out in bars in central Zurich when the winner was announced, and Swiss revellers sang along as Nemo tore through a victory rendition of The Code.

“I think it’s just great, Nemo is fantastic,” said Maha Nater, a 24-year-old kindergarten worker celebrating the win in the city after watching the marathon contest.

Nemo’s victory would blaze a trail for others who had had to cope with prejudice against non-binary people, Nater said.

“It sets an example to follow,” she said.

Croatia’s Baby Lasagna, real name Marko Purisic, 28, came second with Rim Tim Tagi Dim, a song about a young man who leaves home aspiring to become a “city boy” with better opportunities.

Israel’s Eden Golan, 20, finished fifth in the contest despite demonstrators’ calls for a boycott of the country.

The female solo artist on Thursday emerged as one of the leading contenders to win after qualifying for the final.

Booing was heard during Golan’s performance but also applause, a Reuters photographer in the auditorium said. The noise was partly audible in the broadcast viewed by tens of millions of people in Europe and around the world.

There was also booing when the points of the Israeli jury were presented.

Several thousand protesters gathered in central Malmo ahead of Saturday’s final, waving Palestinian flags and shouting “Eurovision united by genocide” – a twist on the contest’s official slogan “United by music”.

A few hundred people later also protested outside the venue, chanting: “Eurovision, you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide.”

Protesters have been pointing to double standards as the EBU banned Russia from Eurovision in 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine.

Police hauled away some protesters before surrounding and ushering them away, a Reuters reporter outside the arena said. Some protesters were seen lying on the ground after police used pepper spray to disband the demonstration.

Twenty-five countries competed in the final after Dutch artist Joost Klein was expelled earlier on Saturday due to a complaint filed by a production crew member.

Viewer votes made up half of Saturday’s final result, while juries of five music professionals in each participating country made up the other half.

The Eurovision winner is awarded the contest’s official glass trophy, which is shaped like a classic, old-fashioned microphone, with sand blasted and painted details. The winner also gets to host the competition the following year.

Published at The Canberra Times, via Australian Associated Press, May 12, 2024

'It's great for Canberra': Symphony Orchestra's budget score

By Sally Pryor and Dana Daniel

May 12 2024

It's one of Australia's oldest orchestras, and has always received a fraction of the funding of its state siblings.

Now, on the eve of its 75th birthday, the Canberra Symphony Orchestra is getting a much-needed funding boost as part of the 2024-25 federal budget.

The orchestra will receive an additional $4.1 million of funding over four years from 2024-25, and $1.1 million per year ongoing and indexed.

It's a shot in the arm for a much-loved institution that has been teetering on the brink since COVID cancelled concerts, shut down stages and forced musicians to find other creative outlets.

But now, says chief executive Rachel Thomas, the orchestra can finally shake off the trials of the past few years and perform its heart out.

Canberra Symphony Orchestra chief executive Rachel Thomas is thrilled about the boost in funding. Picture by Karleen Minney

"We'll be looking to build our reserves up again ... we're in COVID recovery, which has been tough," she said.

"That's been tough, not just for us, but for all performing arts. So I think this is a really good news story in that the injection of funding puts us on an equal footing to what other orchestras are able to achieve."

Like so many Canberra anomalies, the orchestra's relative lack of funding has been the result of a historical quirk, from when the ABC used to fund state orchestras.

The ACT wasn't included in this arrangement, a situation that continued when funding arrangements changed.

As a result, the CSO is a professional part-time orchestra, which engages casual musicians.

"Obviously, we've been recognised generously by the ACT government, and federally as well, but it's always been so much less than what the states received," Ms Thomas said.

"It's meant that we just were not able to do as much, essentially."

But now, as well as being able to usher in its 75th year with confidence, it can also create new programs with more certainty.

Chief conductor and artistic director Jessica Cottis and the Canberra Symphony Orchestra at
Llewellyn Hall. Picture by Thomas Lucraft

"It's great for us, but it's great for Canberra, mainly because it allows us to continue to do the performances and the activity that we do within the community," Ms Thomas said.

"We can build on the foundations that we have and continue to grow, which is something that we're poised to do."

The orchestra is one of the country's most diverse in terms of its programming and performers, and employs the ACT's largest arts workforce, with more than 130 casual, full-time and part-time staff and contractors.

It was the first Australian orchestra to appoint a female chief conductor and artistic director, London-based Jessica Cottis.

The orchestra's long-time chair, retired Air Chief Marshal Sir Angus Houston, said the funding came at a crucial time for the orchestra.

"It will ensure the orchestra can remain a vibrant part of the ACT community, supporting a large arts workforce and delivering educational and outreach initiatives," he said.

"This funding will provide critical support for our flagship Llewellyn and Australian Series which lead the nation in championing Australian voices, generating pathways for emerging artists and bringing diversity to the stage."

Federal Finance Minister and senator for the ACT Katy Gallagher said the CSO had been running "on the smell of an oily rag" for too long, and the funding decision was "great news ... for the cultural fabric of our city".

She said Canberra had untapped potential in the arts, both as a tourism drawcard and to service its "arts loving community" locally, as the nation's largest inland city and "part of a broader region that comes to Canberra frequently".

"The arts precinct is an important part of that," she said.

The timing and prioritisation of Commonwealth funding for other arts projects was part of ongoing negotiations with the territory.

"That's the discussion we have to really lock down with the ACT government," Senator Gallagher said.

Meanwhile, Ms Thomas said the orchestra would make careful plans to maximise the funding boost.

"We plan everything to a dime, and we really just have to be so careful with every cost we have," she said.

"In the scheme of things, this will allow us ... to be able to grow our presence in Canberra. What we really want to be able to do is to provide opportunities, and access for everyone in Canberra to experience CSO in some way.”

Sally Pryor

Features Editor

As features editor at The Canberra Times, I love telling people things they didn't know - or even things they've always known - about the city we live in.

Dana Daniel

Senior Political Reporter

Dana Daniel is Senior Political Reporter for The Canberra Times. She investigates and writes about federal politics and government from the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery. Dana was previously a Federal Health Reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age and has also been a Media Reporter at The Australian and Finance Editor at news.com.au. Contact her on dana.daniel@canberratimes.com.au

Article first published at The Canberra Times, May 12 2024

Sotheby’s to Offer over 80 Jewels Belonging to Dame Shirley Bassey

by Leah Meirovich

May 9, 2024

Dame Shirley Bassey, Sotheby’s auction 2024. Photo, courtesy Rapaport

More than 80 jewels from the collection of British singer Dame Shirley Bassey will feature at an upcoming Sotheby’s auction, including diamonds Elton John gifted her.

The sale, which Sotheby’s will hold in Paris on October 10, features some of Bassey’s favorite pieces, many marking a special time in her career, the auction house said Wednesday. Jewels from well-known design houses such as Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, as well as a Piaget watch, will go up on the block. 

“Collecting jewelry for me is like collecting memories, and this collection is full of them,” said Bassey. “All the pieces are meaningful and have a story to tell, whether I bought them for myself or they were gifted to me. There is this beautiful 1960s vintage Van Cleef & Arpels ring covered in white diamonds that Elton John gave me after I sang at one of his AIDS gala evenings, and which I’ve worn so many times. And perhaps one of the most special…is this emerald parure I bought myself to commemorate my very first Royal Variety Performance in front of the late queen.” 

Sotheby’s will exhibit the jewels in Monaco, London and Paris prior to the sale. 

Here are some highlights from the sale:

A ring featuring a heart-shaped, yellow diamond surrounded by white diamonds is expected to fetch EUR 165,000 

to EUR 200,000 ($177,415 to $215,049).

Sotheby’s will sell this Van Cleef & Arpels emerald and diamond necklace for EUR 60,000 to EUR 70,000 ($64,518 to $75,271).

First published at Rapaport, May 9, 2024