Renowned musician Lloyd Swanton (The Necks, The catholics) has brought together a stellar 12-piece ensemble to perform a new suite of music he has composed to honour his uncle Stuart and the other Australian prisoners of war on Ambon, WWII.
Ambon brings together hymns, work song, gospel, military marches, island music and jazz, to create something of beauty out of great horror, in the process offering us insight into a little-known tragedy in our past.
“At great personal risk, my uncle Stuart kept a secret diary throughout his captivity, written in a coded shorthand. The diary is very significant document because it is the only surviving contemporary account of the tragedy, and because so few men came back to tell the tale. Only half a dozen or so survivors are still with us,” says Swanton.
“My uncle was a gifted musician and in his diary there are numerous musical references. I have composed Ambon firstly as a tribute to the bravery and deceny of my uncle, secondly because I wanted to salvage whatever beauty I could from what is a quite horrible story and lastly, not to literally “tell” the story, but draw people into it, so that they may go on to learn more about it, as I believe it is an important saga in our history, with many contemporary lessons for us.”
Featuring
Lloyd Swanton – bass | Paul Cutlan – bass clarinet, saxophones, recorder | James Eccles – playing Lloyd’s uncle’s viola for its first public performance since the 1930s | Sandy Evans – tenor and soprano saxophones | James Greening – trombone, cornet, pocket trumpet, tuba | Fabian Hevia – cajon, percussion | Chuck Morgan – ukulele |Jon Pease – guitar | Ron Reeves – kendang, percussion | Michel Rose – pedal steel guitar | Alex Silver – trombone | Hamish Stuart – drums
Ambon will be recorded in studio for an album release on Bugle Records in October.
When: Saturday, 6th June 2015, 8pm
Where: Blue Mountains Theatre
108 Macquarie Rd Springwood, NSW
